Another Saturday happened today where we didn't have the usual cleaning crew. Saturday is our change over day where all the customers who were here have to leave and all the new customers arrive. We have from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. to clean all the cabins in preparation of the new arrivals. The optimum cleaning crew is 4 people. Yesterday I received a call reminding me that 2 of the girls would not be coming. I was also told the previous week that another girl would not be here. So I thought I would be down to two cleaning ladies. But the 2 girls/sisters who couldn't make it were having their mother work in their place. This worked out very well, in fact, she brought their older sister and we had four cleaning ladies then. They started out well and worked really hard all day until around 4:30 p.m. when they finished the last cabin. For first timers, the two ladies did amazingly well and I could find nothing wrong with the cabins when they were finished.
To clean our cabins every Saturday, everything has to be wiped down with a strong cleaner, beds need to be made, bathroom cleaned from top to bottom, windows wiped, furniture dusted, floors swept and washed, rugs vacuumed. We put clean linens, wash cloths, towels, hot pads, throw rugs, and table cloths in and take out the old. My job is usually to make up the bags of clean stuff for the cabins, take out the dirty stuff and turn off the refrigerators. That way the refrigerators can thaw out for them to clean. When they are finished, they turn them back on with fresh water in the ice cube trays ready to go. We want our customers to walk into their cabin and not be able to find anything wrong with it. That's our goal. It doesn't always work out that way, but we try.
Today John had to repair a shower faucet but that was all for his repairs. It was dripping right from the hot water knob. He went in, tightened this and that, and it was fixed. I wouldn't have known the first thing about it. Last week he had to replace an outlet in a bedroom. Electrical work is scary but he knew what he was doing and fixed the bad outlet.
Our niece and nephew were picked up by their parents today so they are no longer here. I will miss them. Tommy helped us with work every Saturday for 3 weeks and we gave him some money for helping us so much. We really appreciated his help. Our niece is too young yet to help too much, but she did wash some windows today. They both did a great job.
In our lagoon today there were 2 snapping turtles fighting or mating very roughly. One was on top of the other and it looked like the one on top was trying to bite the other's head off. The one on the bottom was bleeding and fighting. They were both very big and scary looking. Because of all the splashing around they were doing, we had a difficult time keeping the dogs and kids away. They were very curious and kept going down to the piers to take a look.
Today the last of the customers pulled in after 8:00 p.m. As I was relaxing in the living room, I saw red blinking lights on a bicycle, bright blue lights blinking on gym shoes and flashlights beaming all over. It looked like we were being invaded by some huge lightning bugs. This week there are a lot of smaller children who love running around in the woods. They don't get to do that at home, and within minutes of their arrival, they were running down the wooded trails. I always get a little nervous about little children running around, but they were fine and having the time of their lives. I get nervous that one of them will fall and hurt themselves with no adult around, but there's always older children or adults within shouting distance.
The dynamics of each week come out the first day. Last week the kids were all gathered in groups and talking, this week they're all running around screaming. Last week the families had all been here for many years, this week there are three new families so the children are just starting to get to know each other. Children are more friendly from the start where adults tend to stay to themselves for awhile.
Monday night pot lucks are a good opportunity for adults to warm up to talk to each other. I'm sure this week will be no exception.
Today we found some leftovers in the refrigerators. We tell our customers that if you don't want to take your food home, but it is still good, just leave it in the refrigerator. Either we or our cleaning crew will use it. We got veggies, condiments, ice cream, beer, and eggs today. Sometimes we get a lot more and our refrigerators are bulging at the seams. Then I have to be creative with the food for pot luck if we don't eat it right away. I like the challenge of making something with items I am randomly given. I love to cook. Today's lunch for the cleaning ladies was simple food though because we were so busy. I made a pizza in our little pizza oven, a fresh salad and warmed up the spaghetti I made the day before. When we are busy on Saturday, its usually pizza or leftovers.
So now we are usually tired on any Saturday night, but since our niece and nephew were here last week, we are especially tired. This week will be fun but more relaxing too. That will be nice.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
17 Days of 365 of what it is like to run a resort
Another week has flown by. This week was very fun and we enjoyed every day. There was 24 children here this last week and I am happy to report that they are all signed up to return next year.
Today I didn't get up until 8:20 a.m., which is late for me. I had to clean up #2 from our shepherd who's incontinence issues are growing more bothersome. He is 13 and a half, and he walks with a limp that is getting progressively worse. He didn't even know he had messed himself, which is even more scary. We will miss Buddy terribly when he goes, so we just clean up after him and give him pain meds and push him to walk a little every morning and afternoon. The more we keep him moving, the better. So far he is staying about the same with regards to his ability to walk and we hope he will make it through the summer.
Fridays for our customers are usually the days they stick around the resort. That's what the majority of people did. We sat and talked on the beach, brought out a lot of left overs from the week and munched away our lunch. There were two picnic tables full of food at the beach area. I took my little niece up to the lodge and made her something more substantial, but my nephew said he was full from all the sausage and cheese he had eaten.
John did a lot of snorkeling today and said he saw a lot of fish - bass mostly. So my nephew sought them out too and he found a few. John also went up to the dumpster on a regular basis to put the garbage into it. He had to unlock the anti-bear device he had set up each time. So far the bear hasn't been able to get into the dumpster (3 days and counting). If that bear gets into the dumpster one more time, we're going to call animal control again.
My niece had never swam out to the raft without her life jacket before and she was asking about it today. She felt like she was able to do it without her life jacket. So I told her she had to jump off the dock and swim to shore a few times first. She just needed a little confidence and pretty soon she was swimming out to the raft and all around with the other kids without a life jacket. Her smile was like a mile wide. She said the water was cooler today than yesterday so she was shivering, but she didn't want to get out of the water anyway. She had a lot of fun.
I mostly sat around with some old friends and talked. I had to do a favor for our neighbor and run over to his house for a minute, but that was my only excursion for the morning and afternoon.
Later in the day a bunch of us went out for a fish fry at Beaver Lodge. There was 12 of us and the fish fry was great as always. Its not often we can get bluegill baskets. After we were finished eating, the kids piled into our minivan for the ride home. We took them on a scenic ride on the way home through some back roads. There's one hill that gives your stomach a lurch when you go over it and the kids all screamed when it happened. It was fun.
The last duty of the day was to prepare for tomorrow by making up some clean laundry bags. For instance I take a large, white laundry bag, put in a throw rug for the kitchen, bath rug or rugs, kitchen towels and wash cloths, grease can and kitchen scrubby, trash bags, hot pads, sheets, pillow cases, paper towel roll and toilet paper rolls. Then I put the label on the bag indicating what cabin it is for and set it by the door. Tomorrow when the customer leaves their cabin, we go into the cabin and drop off the bag I made. We then take out the dirty laundry, etc. This is a constant cycle in the summer. I would have much rather stayed upstairs with friends, but I had to get this done for tomorrow morning.
Earlier I got a call from one of my cleaning girls to remind me she wouldn't be here tomorrow and that neither would her sister. I was very thankful for the call because I had forgotten. So I called our 2 back-ups and left a message for them to come if they could. If they cannot, there might only be 3 women cleaning tomorrow. That would mean that I would have to clean too. I'm not looking forward to that, especially since my niece is still visiting. Hopefully I will have 4 women here. That's the best number.
Well got to go to bed now and try to get a decent night's sleep for tomorrow. Eight o'clock comes early around here.
Today I didn't get up until 8:20 a.m., which is late for me. I had to clean up #2 from our shepherd who's incontinence issues are growing more bothersome. He is 13 and a half, and he walks with a limp that is getting progressively worse. He didn't even know he had messed himself, which is even more scary. We will miss Buddy terribly when he goes, so we just clean up after him and give him pain meds and push him to walk a little every morning and afternoon. The more we keep him moving, the better. So far he is staying about the same with regards to his ability to walk and we hope he will make it through the summer.
Fridays for our customers are usually the days they stick around the resort. That's what the majority of people did. We sat and talked on the beach, brought out a lot of left overs from the week and munched away our lunch. There were two picnic tables full of food at the beach area. I took my little niece up to the lodge and made her something more substantial, but my nephew said he was full from all the sausage and cheese he had eaten.
John did a lot of snorkeling today and said he saw a lot of fish - bass mostly. So my nephew sought them out too and he found a few. John also went up to the dumpster on a regular basis to put the garbage into it. He had to unlock the anti-bear device he had set up each time. So far the bear hasn't been able to get into the dumpster (3 days and counting). If that bear gets into the dumpster one more time, we're going to call animal control again.
My niece had never swam out to the raft without her life jacket before and she was asking about it today. She felt like she was able to do it without her life jacket. So I told her she had to jump off the dock and swim to shore a few times first. She just needed a little confidence and pretty soon she was swimming out to the raft and all around with the other kids without a life jacket. Her smile was like a mile wide. She said the water was cooler today than yesterday so she was shivering, but she didn't want to get out of the water anyway. She had a lot of fun.
I mostly sat around with some old friends and talked. I had to do a favor for our neighbor and run over to his house for a minute, but that was my only excursion for the morning and afternoon.
Later in the day a bunch of us went out for a fish fry at Beaver Lodge. There was 12 of us and the fish fry was great as always. Its not often we can get bluegill baskets. After we were finished eating, the kids piled into our minivan for the ride home. We took them on a scenic ride on the way home through some back roads. There's one hill that gives your stomach a lurch when you go over it and the kids all screamed when it happened. It was fun.
The last duty of the day was to prepare for tomorrow by making up some clean laundry bags. For instance I take a large, white laundry bag, put in a throw rug for the kitchen, bath rug or rugs, kitchen towels and wash cloths, grease can and kitchen scrubby, trash bags, hot pads, sheets, pillow cases, paper towel roll and toilet paper rolls. Then I put the label on the bag indicating what cabin it is for and set it by the door. Tomorrow when the customer leaves their cabin, we go into the cabin and drop off the bag I made. We then take out the dirty laundry, etc. This is a constant cycle in the summer. I would have much rather stayed upstairs with friends, but I had to get this done for tomorrow morning.
Earlier I got a call from one of my cleaning girls to remind me she wouldn't be here tomorrow and that neither would her sister. I was very thankful for the call because I had forgotten. So I called our 2 back-ups and left a message for them to come if they could. If they cannot, there might only be 3 women cleaning tomorrow. That would mean that I would have to clean too. I'm not looking forward to that, especially since my niece is still visiting. Hopefully I will have 4 women here. That's the best number.
Well got to go to bed now and try to get a decent night's sleep for tomorrow. Eight o'clock comes early around here.
Day 16 of 365 of what it is like to run a resort
I didn't get to the computer last night because my husband was on it looking at all the pictures of the tornado damage. The Turtle Flambeau Flowage had a lot of damage and our local librarian posted 103 pictures of it. The island we usually take customers to is called Swimmer's Island, because of all the sand around it. Apparently that island wasn't damaged too much but the surrounding islands were severely damaged. So John was on-line for awhile looking at them and trying to decipher where each island was, but it was too difficult. There are so many islands and its hard to tell from a picture what is what.
We have been having bear trouble again. John has been leaving the heavy, steel, cover on the dumpster all day now. Customers have to leave their garbage on top of the dumpster and John makes several trips up there a day to put the garbage in. That way hopefully the bear won't get into the whole dumpster. The bear was in the dumpster the other evening and we had to clean up a lot of mess again. Hopefully this system will work.
Yesterday was a slow and relaxing day. We didn't go anywhere but our customers split up and went other places. One group went up to Duluth for the big tall ships. Some old ships that have been restored were there in the bay in Duluth. Supposedly 100,000 spectators were there and it was almost 90 degrees. They said the ships and the raising of the bridge, etc. was beautiful but they didn't stay long.
Another group went to the sand dunes in Saxon Harbor. The shore there is eroding severely and the sand is very soft. The homes on the large hill must be worried that eventually their hill will disappear, so maybe in the future this park will be closed. For now though the kids love to climb the 100 feet tall or so cliffs of sand and swim in Lake Superior. The group was there for most of the day and well into the afternoon.
I swept and vacuumed the lodge, which is a daily job, made meals, cleaned up garbage laying around on the ground, called around for deals on computers, did some computer work, sat in the sun and visited with customers and friends.
Our computer keeps freezing up so we are going to be looking for another. We had it repaired this spring and the computer expert replaced our hard drive for us so we lost all our documents. The "mother board" still has issues so now it is doing the same thing again it was doing last year. We knew this would happen but because computers are so expensive, we tried to make this one work until the end of summer when we would have more income. There are a lot of refurbished computers for cheap out there, but we don't know if buying one will just leave us in the same boat again in a year. We want something that will last us 5 years. It seems that these days the lifespan of a computer is only 3 years. We can't afford to spend $1000 every 3 years on computers and software and anti-virus protection, etc. When you add up extras, that's about what we would be spending every 3 years, and that upsets us. We tried a Mac mini, but that's got the mother board problem. So we've been limping along hoping for something wonderful. Then, John gets a call from his friend, Brian. Brian says that he can get us a lap top computer for free. Yeah! Sometimes procrastinating pays off. Hopefully we will get that computer soon and then I can finish a lot of work I have been putting off. There's nothing worse than trying to fill out a bunch of forms and on the last one the computer freezes and you lose everything.
Through the years, computer problems have hounded us terribly. I wonder if other small business owners have the same problems as we do. These problems are through no fault of our own. A virus wiped out our last desk top and now this one has a mother board issue. Hopefully the next one will be better.
Last evening we planned a sunset cruise on our pontoon boat. We all got on around 8:00 p.m., boated out up-wind and turned off the motor. The sunset was fabulous and it was fun. There were five kids along with us 5 adults. One kid swam around the boat, one fished and the others just talked with us. Our two dogs just enjoyed the company and took up space. We listened to loons, watched an eagle soar above and had a few cocktails. It was relaxing and fun.
As we floated on the lake, we could see the resort's campfire smoke start to make its way along the shoreline in the trees. We could look back at the resort and see the bright orange flames of the campfire and hear laughter in the distance. Sometimes a different view of your life puts things in a different perspective. When we got back, we sat around the fire visiting for awhile. I went up and opened up the lodge again because I had locked it up for our cruise. While I was up there I checked for messages, got our stash of s'mores supplies, re-filled my drink and headed back to the fire. The mosquitoes eventually bothered me enough that I headed up to a friend's cabin for awhile.
Then I saw that there were a lot of teenagers in the lodge. So I went in to supervise. They were playing foosball, computer games, cribbage and poker with chips. No one was doing anything wrong and I was very happy about that. I got out my book and sat at the main table. Eventually it was 11:00 p.m., quiet time for the resort. As I do every night, I poked my head out a window and told all the teenagers outside who were playing flashlight tag that it was 11:00 and time to be quiet. Then again, as I do every night, I kick the kids out of the lodge. After 11:00 p.m., it is adult time. My niece and nephew got ready for bed and hit the sack. My friend and I sat and looked at pictures and talked until a little after 11:30 p.m. and then we crashed for the night too.
It was a beautiful sunny, fun day and I was sorry to see it end.
We have been having bear trouble again. John has been leaving the heavy, steel, cover on the dumpster all day now. Customers have to leave their garbage on top of the dumpster and John makes several trips up there a day to put the garbage in. That way hopefully the bear won't get into the whole dumpster. The bear was in the dumpster the other evening and we had to clean up a lot of mess again. Hopefully this system will work.
Yesterday was a slow and relaxing day. We didn't go anywhere but our customers split up and went other places. One group went up to Duluth for the big tall ships. Some old ships that have been restored were there in the bay in Duluth. Supposedly 100,000 spectators were there and it was almost 90 degrees. They said the ships and the raising of the bridge, etc. was beautiful but they didn't stay long.
Another group went to the sand dunes in Saxon Harbor. The shore there is eroding severely and the sand is very soft. The homes on the large hill must be worried that eventually their hill will disappear, so maybe in the future this park will be closed. For now though the kids love to climb the 100 feet tall or so cliffs of sand and swim in Lake Superior. The group was there for most of the day and well into the afternoon.
I swept and vacuumed the lodge, which is a daily job, made meals, cleaned up garbage laying around on the ground, called around for deals on computers, did some computer work, sat in the sun and visited with customers and friends.
Our computer keeps freezing up so we are going to be looking for another. We had it repaired this spring and the computer expert replaced our hard drive for us so we lost all our documents. The "mother board" still has issues so now it is doing the same thing again it was doing last year. We knew this would happen but because computers are so expensive, we tried to make this one work until the end of summer when we would have more income. There are a lot of refurbished computers for cheap out there, but we don't know if buying one will just leave us in the same boat again in a year. We want something that will last us 5 years. It seems that these days the lifespan of a computer is only 3 years. We can't afford to spend $1000 every 3 years on computers and software and anti-virus protection, etc. When you add up extras, that's about what we would be spending every 3 years, and that upsets us. We tried a Mac mini, but that's got the mother board problem. So we've been limping along hoping for something wonderful. Then, John gets a call from his friend, Brian. Brian says that he can get us a lap top computer for free. Yeah! Sometimes procrastinating pays off. Hopefully we will get that computer soon and then I can finish a lot of work I have been putting off. There's nothing worse than trying to fill out a bunch of forms and on the last one the computer freezes and you lose everything.
Through the years, computer problems have hounded us terribly. I wonder if other small business owners have the same problems as we do. These problems are through no fault of our own. A virus wiped out our last desk top and now this one has a mother board issue. Hopefully the next one will be better.
Last evening we planned a sunset cruise on our pontoon boat. We all got on around 8:00 p.m., boated out up-wind and turned off the motor. The sunset was fabulous and it was fun. There were five kids along with us 5 adults. One kid swam around the boat, one fished and the others just talked with us. Our two dogs just enjoyed the company and took up space. We listened to loons, watched an eagle soar above and had a few cocktails. It was relaxing and fun.
As we floated on the lake, we could see the resort's campfire smoke start to make its way along the shoreline in the trees. We could look back at the resort and see the bright orange flames of the campfire and hear laughter in the distance. Sometimes a different view of your life puts things in a different perspective. When we got back, we sat around the fire visiting for awhile. I went up and opened up the lodge again because I had locked it up for our cruise. While I was up there I checked for messages, got our stash of s'mores supplies, re-filled my drink and headed back to the fire. The mosquitoes eventually bothered me enough that I headed up to a friend's cabin for awhile.
Then I saw that there were a lot of teenagers in the lodge. So I went in to supervise. They were playing foosball, computer games, cribbage and poker with chips. No one was doing anything wrong and I was very happy about that. I got out my book and sat at the main table. Eventually it was 11:00 p.m., quiet time for the resort. As I do every night, I poked my head out a window and told all the teenagers outside who were playing flashlight tag that it was 11:00 and time to be quiet. Then again, as I do every night, I kick the kids out of the lodge. After 11:00 p.m., it is adult time. My niece and nephew got ready for bed and hit the sack. My friend and I sat and looked at pictures and talked until a little after 11:30 p.m. and then we crashed for the night too.
It was a beautiful sunny, fun day and I was sorry to see it end.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Day 15 of 365 of what it is like to run a resort
Its day 15 already and it seems like I just started. This blogger stuff is fun. I love to write and I am glad that you all are enjoying this. For those of you who don't know, I have been writing since I was in my 20's and have published a short story, newspaper articles and now possibly a book. I have a publisher interested in it after they read the first 2 chapters and I am extremely excited. All I have to do now is find an editor. So if any of you know one, tell them to e-mail me, please!
This morning we found out that a bear had gotten into our dumpster again. I went up there before John could even get his shoes on and cleaned up 3 bags of scattered garbage. For those of you who are just tuning in, we captured a 225 lb. bear 15 days ago that was getting into our dumpster. Now it appears we have another one. I will call animal control tomorrow. We'll see if they can bring another trap. This time the bear went into the dumpster in the afternoon. It was quiet around here then, but that bear is gutsy coming into our resort in mid-day. We don't want brave bears around here. So I'll call for a trap tomorrow.
After that, I took a shower then made the niece and nephew breakfast. When they were eating, one of our customers came back from town with some bad news. It appears that the terrible storms last night damaged some camp sites on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage severely. Some campers were on those islands and there were 5 injuries. One woman had to be taken out in a helicopter because of a back injury. This was very upsetting. We made some calls and found out that no one needed our help. We were not allowed out there to take pictures either, because we heard the DNR had closed down the boat landings to all except rescue personnel. We knew the storms were bad, just not that bad. Some boy scouts were on an island too, and they are all okay.
After awhile my oldest friend, Kari, came into the lodge and started looking at the many maps we had available of the area. She wanted to do a hike with her niece and nephew and my niece and nephew. They get along very well. So after some discussion we decided to go to the Presque Isle River/Waterfalls in the Porcupine Mountain State Park. From our resort we can take a Rustic Road for most of the way, which is beautiful. We arrived there around 2:00 p.m., loaded with water, snacks, cameras and swimsuits. We walked the 1.1 mile western trail up to the beautiful Lake Superior. The prevailing winds were from the north and were strong. After the kids went into the bushes to change into their swimsuits, they ran down to the water. There were huge waves, at least 4 feet high at times, and the kids had an absolute blast in the waves. The water was very warm by the outlet to the River so the kids didn't want to get out. We hunted for rocks, skipped a few, and ate snacks. An eagle flew by, some teenagers floated around on a log, people walked by and we all had fun. On the way back we took the Eastern trail for a change of scenery. The waterfalls look beautiful going in both directions.
It felt strange not having our dogs with us, but they stayed home. John didn't want to go along because the majority of the customers were still at the resort.
Most of the other customers went to the Carow Park in town to swim with the locals and play on the outdoor play equipment. They were gone for most of the afternoon but a lot of the dads were back at the resort with John. At 5:00 p.m. John and a large crew went to a local restaurant, Ruggers Landing, for their home made pizza. They had to wait an hour but said the pizza was all you could eat and made to order. They loved it.
Our group got back around 7:30 p.m. from our hike/swim and John's group got back from pizza around 8:00 p.m. After awhile there was another birthday party in the lodge, Kayla. Her mom made chocolate cake and brownies. So we all sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream.
Now there's a bunch of teenagers running around in the dark with their flashlights playing some fun game, and there's another group of people in the lodge playing cribbage or something else. One person, who is majoring in music management, is doing his homework on a lap top and others are playing board games. The lodge is full of people again and we are loving it.
There's a fire going on down by the lake, so I'm sorry I'm missing that, but I'm just too tired to walk down there right now. I haven't gone to the Presque Isle River hike in a year, so my feet aren't used to it. 2.2 miles up and down hills and rocks and stairs is a long hike. I'm going to bed after this.
Tomorrow we will take some interested parties out to the Flowage to see the damage and take some pictures. It should be interesting and sad, I'm afraid.
This morning we found out that a bear had gotten into our dumpster again. I went up there before John could even get his shoes on and cleaned up 3 bags of scattered garbage. For those of you who are just tuning in, we captured a 225 lb. bear 15 days ago that was getting into our dumpster. Now it appears we have another one. I will call animal control tomorrow. We'll see if they can bring another trap. This time the bear went into the dumpster in the afternoon. It was quiet around here then, but that bear is gutsy coming into our resort in mid-day. We don't want brave bears around here. So I'll call for a trap tomorrow.
After that, I took a shower then made the niece and nephew breakfast. When they were eating, one of our customers came back from town with some bad news. It appears that the terrible storms last night damaged some camp sites on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage severely. Some campers were on those islands and there were 5 injuries. One woman had to be taken out in a helicopter because of a back injury. This was very upsetting. We made some calls and found out that no one needed our help. We were not allowed out there to take pictures either, because we heard the DNR had closed down the boat landings to all except rescue personnel. We knew the storms were bad, just not that bad. Some boy scouts were on an island too, and they are all okay.
After awhile my oldest friend, Kari, came into the lodge and started looking at the many maps we had available of the area. She wanted to do a hike with her niece and nephew and my niece and nephew. They get along very well. So after some discussion we decided to go to the Presque Isle River/Waterfalls in the Porcupine Mountain State Park. From our resort we can take a Rustic Road for most of the way, which is beautiful. We arrived there around 2:00 p.m., loaded with water, snacks, cameras and swimsuits. We walked the 1.1 mile western trail up to the beautiful Lake Superior. The prevailing winds were from the north and were strong. After the kids went into the bushes to change into their swimsuits, they ran down to the water. There were huge waves, at least 4 feet high at times, and the kids had an absolute blast in the waves. The water was very warm by the outlet to the River so the kids didn't want to get out. We hunted for rocks, skipped a few, and ate snacks. An eagle flew by, some teenagers floated around on a log, people walked by and we all had fun. On the way back we took the Eastern trail for a change of scenery. The waterfalls look beautiful going in both directions.
It felt strange not having our dogs with us, but they stayed home. John didn't want to go along because the majority of the customers were still at the resort.
Most of the other customers went to the Carow Park in town to swim with the locals and play on the outdoor play equipment. They were gone for most of the afternoon but a lot of the dads were back at the resort with John. At 5:00 p.m. John and a large crew went to a local restaurant, Ruggers Landing, for their home made pizza. They had to wait an hour but said the pizza was all you could eat and made to order. They loved it.
Our group got back around 7:30 p.m. from our hike/swim and John's group got back from pizza around 8:00 p.m. After awhile there was another birthday party in the lodge, Kayla. Her mom made chocolate cake and brownies. So we all sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream.
Now there's a bunch of teenagers running around in the dark with their flashlights playing some fun game, and there's another group of people in the lodge playing cribbage or something else. One person, who is majoring in music management, is doing his homework on a lap top and others are playing board games. The lodge is full of people again and we are loving it.
There's a fire going on down by the lake, so I'm sorry I'm missing that, but I'm just too tired to walk down there right now. I haven't gone to the Presque Isle River hike in a year, so my feet aren't used to it. 2.2 miles up and down hills and rocks and stairs is a long hike. I'm going to bed after this.
Tomorrow we will take some interested parties out to the Flowage to see the damage and take some pictures. It should be interesting and sad, I'm afraid.
Day 14 of 365 of what it is like to run a resort
I am sorry this post is a little late. Last night we had tremendous storms blow through from 7:00 until after 11:00 p.m. I turned off my computer because I didn't want it to get fried. The storms were very bad. There was a boy scout troop camping out on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage and now there might be some children missing. The Dept. of Natural Resources person I spoke to this morning said that they are not sure if anyone is missing and are sending out a search and rescue group right now. This at 11:00 a.m. the next day. I wish they would have done this sooner. Supposedly they have blocked off the Flowage so no one can get onto it to interfere. I hope that no one interferes. John was going to go out and take some pictures of the downed trees, but when he heard there might be people missing, he didn't want to bother the rescuers.
Our neighbor, Harry, gave me a scanner/weather radio the other day. So I had it on the weather channel all night. We listened as it told us of severe weather and winds until 10:00 p.m., when it was pretty much blown over. There was still an occasional lightning flash, and rain, but nothing to worry about. The customers were glad I had the radio, and so was I. I wish I could have been able to figure out how to get it to scan for police and/or rescue channels, but because of my inability, we didn't know what was going on until this morning. One of our customers went to the store to get a paper and there was a lot of talking going on about the storm on the Flowage. He came into the lodge to tell John and me. Hopefully, God protected all the Boy Scouts last night and they will have a story to tell for the rest of their lives.
Yesterday it rained on and off
so there wasn't a lot of swimming. I took my niece and nephew, Jaeden and Tommy, to the Wampum shop around 11 a.m. As we were checking out, in came a large group from our resort. That was fun to see them. Seeing the big group come in also reminded me of how resorts impact the tourism of towns. If it weren't for our resort, they wouldn't have had as many people shopping that day. When we got there, there was only 3 other people in the store. When we left, our resort just about filled every aisle.
When we got back, people crammed into the lodge to play games, the piano, watch Shrek 2, check their computers and talk. It was packed in the lodge until our old dog, Buddy, pooped under the dining table. That cleared out a lot of people. He is 13 years old and for a shepherd, that's pretty old. So he's been having some poopy problems and now some of our customers got to see it first hand. This might be Buddy's last summer, sad to say.
Later some kids filled up the lodge playing games like foosball and Monopoly. They were all well behaved and it was fun to hear and see everyone there. We love it when the lodge is being used like its supposed to. The day went fast, especially with the kids playing so nicely all day, even though some of it was on computers. We don't particularly like the children playing on computers when they should be enjoying the outdoors, but on a rainy day, we don't mind.
Earlier in the day I brought up a lot of boxes from the basement for our office. They had been down there since we started renovating our office about a year ago. I did the ceiling and replaster, repaint, fixed the walls, repainted, took out a partial wall, fixed the studs, bought new/used rug & curtains, etc. Then I asked John to put up the trim on the new closet. He took over six months to finish it. Yikes. Now the office is finally finished so I can move stuff back in, like I said in my previous posts. But it takes time and a lot of effort to get everything back to normal around here. I still have a big box of stuff to bring up from the basement. I must have spent 2 hours yesterday just putting stuff back in the office.
One of our friends said the other day that they were impressed about how much work we get done around here. I guess we don't even think about the volume of work, but there sure is a lot. He started listing a couple of the things he noticed and it made us feel good that he thought we worked hard on our resort's trails, etc. Truth be known, the trails around our cabins and lake were improved by the children. Every evening this week in particular the children/teens would play flashlight tag and run down the trails, through the woods, around the cabins, etc. They are the ones who improve the trails. Whenever a tree or branch starts to grow over the trail, the flashlight taggers take care of it. We laughed about our "trail grooming" efforts and our friend did too. We won't take credit where it is not due.
After the storms started yesterday, I had to turn off the computer. So I am sorry this post is late.
Our neighbor, Harry, gave me a scanner/weather radio the other day. So I had it on the weather channel all night. We listened as it told us of severe weather and winds until 10:00 p.m., when it was pretty much blown over. There was still an occasional lightning flash, and rain, but nothing to worry about. The customers were glad I had the radio, and so was I. I wish I could have been able to figure out how to get it to scan for police and/or rescue channels, but because of my inability, we didn't know what was going on until this morning. One of our customers went to the store to get a paper and there was a lot of talking going on about the storm on the Flowage. He came into the lodge to tell John and me. Hopefully, God protected all the Boy Scouts last night and they will have a story to tell for the rest of their lives.
Yesterday it rained on and off
so there wasn't a lot of swimming. I took my niece and nephew, Jaeden and Tommy, to the Wampum shop around 11 a.m. As we were checking out, in came a large group from our resort. That was fun to see them. Seeing the big group come in also reminded me of how resorts impact the tourism of towns. If it weren't for our resort, they wouldn't have had as many people shopping that day. When we got there, there was only 3 other people in the store. When we left, our resort just about filled every aisle.
When we got back, people crammed into the lodge to play games, the piano, watch Shrek 2, check their computers and talk. It was packed in the lodge until our old dog, Buddy, pooped under the dining table. That cleared out a lot of people. He is 13 years old and for a shepherd, that's pretty old. So he's been having some poopy problems and now some of our customers got to see it first hand. This might be Buddy's last summer, sad to say.
Later some kids filled up the lodge playing games like foosball and Monopoly. They were all well behaved and it was fun to hear and see everyone there. We love it when the lodge is being used like its supposed to. The day went fast, especially with the kids playing so nicely all day, even though some of it was on computers. We don't particularly like the children playing on computers when they should be enjoying the outdoors, but on a rainy day, we don't mind.
Earlier in the day I brought up a lot of boxes from the basement for our office. They had been down there since we started renovating our office about a year ago. I did the ceiling and replaster, repaint, fixed the walls, repainted, took out a partial wall, fixed the studs, bought new/used rug & curtains, etc. Then I asked John to put up the trim on the new closet. He took over six months to finish it. Yikes. Now the office is finally finished so I can move stuff back in, like I said in my previous posts. But it takes time and a lot of effort to get everything back to normal around here. I still have a big box of stuff to bring up from the basement. I must have spent 2 hours yesterday just putting stuff back in the office.
One of our friends said the other day that they were impressed about how much work we get done around here. I guess we don't even think about the volume of work, but there sure is a lot. He started listing a couple of the things he noticed and it made us feel good that he thought we worked hard on our resort's trails, etc. Truth be known, the trails around our cabins and lake were improved by the children. Every evening this week in particular the children/teens would play flashlight tag and run down the trails, through the woods, around the cabins, etc. They are the ones who improve the trails. Whenever a tree or branch starts to grow over the trail, the flashlight taggers take care of it. We laughed about our "trail grooming" efforts and our friend did too. We won't take credit where it is not due.
After the storms started yesterday, I had to turn off the computer. So I am sorry this post is late.
Monday, July 26, 2010
13 Days out of 365 of what it is like to run a resort
Another fun Monday just went by. My niece was up just about as early as me today. We looked forward to this day because she had some friends coming to play with her from her school, and my son was coming to visit. He's been in the Marines for 4 years and just this last Friday he got out.
Around 11 a.m. John took a group out kayaking up river. They saw 2 eagles and an osprey and enjoyed the beautiful day. Tommy, our nephew, did great and was even the first kayak back to the resort. He was padding a 2 person kayak with Zack, and since he was in the back seat, he had to steer. He did an amazing job.
Around noon my son came to visit us and brought his lovely girlfriend, Lacey. We hung out by the beach, played with their puppy and visited. It was probably a boring day for them, but I loved just having him here. He left after pot luck.
I started preparing for the pot luck at 4p.m. by making a boat load of food. I had invited our neighbor, Harry, our priest has a standing invitation but hasn't been here yet, Joey/Lacey, niece/nephew, John/me, and friends of my niece (4). So I figured that if everybody showed up, that would be 12 people to cook for. Our pot luck goes such that everybody should bring whatever they were going to make for dinner to the lodge. We will set it all out on the bar and all share the food. It started out years ago with just telling everyone to bring a dish to pass. That didn't work because one huge family only brought some cole slaw once. So that's way everybody should bring what they were making for dinner. So if I was cooking for 12, I had to get going early.
I made veggies/dip, fried veggies for the steak, basil pesto pasta, salad, bread sticks, cake and then I grilled a bunch of meat. I grilled an entire chicken (cut up), steak, brats, chicken brats, and hot dogs. The only thing left was a piece of chicken and some veggies/dip. We have 24 kids here this week and 75% of them are over the age of 12. Hungry eaters all of them!
After the pot luck the kids hung out in the lodge. Some teenager played the piano beautifully, two tables had board games going on, another group was watching You-tube, a couple of sisters were putting together a puzzle and I was drinking and talking with some others. I love it when the lodge is full and there's a lot going on. Twin girls were celebrating their 17th birthday tonight so around 9 p.m. there was birthday singing, cake and more fun. We supplied the plates and ice cream. Then the sugar kicked the kids into high gear. The noise in the lodge rose steadily until I couldn't handle it any more and at 10:00 p.m., I said they had to go outside. They didn't mind. This group loves to play flashlight tag or something and tonight they are still out there running around and its almost 11.
John was down by the campfire with some people so I walked there to see what I was missing. It was so much cooler outside than in the bar that the walk felt wonderful. Some customers were roasting s'mores and some were just visiting. Our dogs were sleeping on each side of the fire and the lake was like glass. Beautiful.
Well now its 11:00 p.m. and its time to tell the kids to be quiet for the night.
Around 11 a.m. John took a group out kayaking up river. They saw 2 eagles and an osprey and enjoyed the beautiful day. Tommy, our nephew, did great and was even the first kayak back to the resort. He was padding a 2 person kayak with Zack, and since he was in the back seat, he had to steer. He did an amazing job.
Around noon my son came to visit us and brought his lovely girlfriend, Lacey. We hung out by the beach, played with their puppy and visited. It was probably a boring day for them, but I loved just having him here. He left after pot luck.
I started preparing for the pot luck at 4p.m. by making a boat load of food. I had invited our neighbor, Harry, our priest has a standing invitation but hasn't been here yet, Joey/Lacey, niece/nephew, John/me, and friends of my niece (4). So I figured that if everybody showed up, that would be 12 people to cook for. Our pot luck goes such that everybody should bring whatever they were going to make for dinner to the lodge. We will set it all out on the bar and all share the food. It started out years ago with just telling everyone to bring a dish to pass. That didn't work because one huge family only brought some cole slaw once. So that's way everybody should bring what they were making for dinner. So if I was cooking for 12, I had to get going early.
I made veggies/dip, fried veggies for the steak, basil pesto pasta, salad, bread sticks, cake and then I grilled a bunch of meat. I grilled an entire chicken (cut up), steak, brats, chicken brats, and hot dogs. The only thing left was a piece of chicken and some veggies/dip. We have 24 kids here this week and 75% of them are over the age of 12. Hungry eaters all of them!
After the pot luck the kids hung out in the lodge. Some teenager played the piano beautifully, two tables had board games going on, another group was watching You-tube, a couple of sisters were putting together a puzzle and I was drinking and talking with some others. I love it when the lodge is full and there's a lot going on. Twin girls were celebrating their 17th birthday tonight so around 9 p.m. there was birthday singing, cake and more fun. We supplied the plates and ice cream. Then the sugar kicked the kids into high gear. The noise in the lodge rose steadily until I couldn't handle it any more and at 10:00 p.m., I said they had to go outside. They didn't mind. This group loves to play flashlight tag or something and tonight they are still out there running around and its almost 11.
John was down by the campfire with some people so I walked there to see what I was missing. It was so much cooler outside than in the bar that the walk felt wonderful. Some customers were roasting s'mores and some were just visiting. Our dogs were sleeping on each side of the fire and the lake was like glass. Beautiful.
Well now its 11:00 p.m. and its time to tell the kids to be quiet for the night.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Day 12 of what it is like to run a resort
Sunday is usually my day of rest. I have to force myself to not do any work because otherwise weeks go by and I start getting more and more cranky. So when I force myself to take a day off, I feel more energized and happy the rest of the week. I think everyone should do this because it is such a great feeling to "allow" yourself the day to relax.
I picked up the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and a lot of its stories were about flooding in the Milwaukee area, which is so sad. Our relatives there were okay but a lot of people lost everything. Usually on Sunday people will borrow parts of our newspaper, which is what they did today. Conversations were largely about the weather in Milwaukee and Chicago areas. It seemed almost everybody knew of someone who experienced flooding.
I went down to the beach with the niece and nephew today and spent most of the day there. I even brought lunch down to them on the picnic table - ham sandwiches and fruit salad. It was a beautiful, perfect day. The kids, all 24 of them, either swam, kayaked or played on the sail boards. Some went out to the island to explore and some played on the raft. I talked with customers and/or friends and played with dogs. John took a snorkel and swam with the kids and I talked with people. It was a perfect day. I know that every year this group is here might be their last because the kids are all getting so much older. Hopefully there will be one more year though. I will miss them all terribly when they grow up and move on.
Later in the afternoon I started talking up the "Sing and Wings" event at the local restaurant/pub. Families from the area can go from 6-9 p.m. and sing karaoke, eat chicken wings, fries and cole slaw. It was fun. The local priest, Father Mike, even sang some songs. I took my niece, but my nephew didn't want to go. I sat Jaeden down between two grandma's and we ate chicken, had a kiddy cocktail and had fun for an hour and a half. We left at 7:30 p.m. and took two other kids from the resort back home with us. Their parents were going to stay for a little while longer. They were there until it ended after 9 p.m., so they must have had fun.
Now there is a large group in the lodge watching baseball, using the internet on their lap tops or putting together a puzzle. I love having a lodge. The more people in my house, the better. There is always something going on here. Its no wonder why my niece and nephew like it here so much, there's always some children here and there's always something to do. If I didn't have John and the resort in my life, I don't know what I would have done. My children grew up and moved out and I would have been lonely. Here I feel needed, am wanted (almost all the time someone wants something) and feel appreciated. What more could I ask for?
I picked up the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and a lot of its stories were about flooding in the Milwaukee area, which is so sad. Our relatives there were okay but a lot of people lost everything. Usually on Sunday people will borrow parts of our newspaper, which is what they did today. Conversations were largely about the weather in Milwaukee and Chicago areas. It seemed almost everybody knew of someone who experienced flooding.
I went down to the beach with the niece and nephew today and spent most of the day there. I even brought lunch down to them on the picnic table - ham sandwiches and fruit salad. It was a beautiful, perfect day. The kids, all 24 of them, either swam, kayaked or played on the sail boards. Some went out to the island to explore and some played on the raft. I talked with customers and/or friends and played with dogs. John took a snorkel and swam with the kids and I talked with people. It was a perfect day. I know that every year this group is here might be their last because the kids are all getting so much older. Hopefully there will be one more year though. I will miss them all terribly when they grow up and move on.
Later in the afternoon I started talking up the "Sing and Wings" event at the local restaurant/pub. Families from the area can go from 6-9 p.m. and sing karaoke, eat chicken wings, fries and cole slaw. It was fun. The local priest, Father Mike, even sang some songs. I took my niece, but my nephew didn't want to go. I sat Jaeden down between two grandma's and we ate chicken, had a kiddy cocktail and had fun for an hour and a half. We left at 7:30 p.m. and took two other kids from the resort back home with us. Their parents were going to stay for a little while longer. They were there until it ended after 9 p.m., so they must have had fun.
Now there is a large group in the lodge watching baseball, using the internet on their lap tops or putting together a puzzle. I love having a lodge. The more people in my house, the better. There is always something going on here. Its no wonder why my niece and nephew like it here so much, there's always some children here and there's always something to do. If I didn't have John and the resort in my life, I don't know what I would have done. My children grew up and moved out and I would have been lonely. Here I feel needed, am wanted (almost all the time someone wants something) and feel appreciated. What more could I ask for?
Saturday, July 24, 2010
11th day of what its like to run a resort
Another Saturday or change-over day has arrived. Last week we had two openings. This week we are full and the people who are here have been coming for many, many years. Their children have been texting, e-mailing and partying with each other away from the resort for years too. So when a car would pull up to a cabin, all the kids who are here would go running to see their friends. It was really fun. I wish every week were like that. John and I love to see kids each year as they grow older and bigger. This week used to drive me crazy because at one point all the kids were under the age of 12. Now they're all over the age of 12, for the most part.
The first year I was here, 2001, I met over 1,000 people. John bought the resort in 1998 and we met, then married in 2001. When I moved here, I had to meet all the customers, John's friends and all the relatives. That's a lot of people. But this particular week was forever etched in my memory instantly. The kids were younger then, as I said earlier, which also means they were a lot more trouble. I would have to tell them to stop shoving each other, stop throwing trash around, stop trying to pile everyone on the hammock or picnic table, etc. I told John that when they came back the next year that I would just have a notebook (and a stiff drink) in my hands and just add to their parent's bill all the things they break. I was sick of yelling at them. Well John was concerned about his new bride's complaint so he told all the customers about my frustration with the kids. I didn't know he told their parents anything but when I walked outside later, I could tell. Wherever any kids were playing, and I would walk by, they would stand at attention like they were in the military, say "Hi Mrs. Stratte" and be quiet until I passed. It was comical. Later they relaxed a lot but they never went back to causing trouble like they had. I would like to thank their parents for that - if you're reading this, "Thanks!".
Because of this group of kids, I also had to initiate the 11:00 p.m. quiet rule. These kids would run around playing ghosts in the graveyard or flashlight tag until 1 a.m. if we let them. So at first I said 10:30 p.m. everyone had to be quiet. The only problem with that is that up here it doesn't get really dark until 10:00 p.m. So that only left them one half hour. At least now they have to 11 p.m. and that has been okay for a few years. The parents appreciate that rule too. At the appointed hour, they make their kids go to the cabin and "be quiet" at 11. Then the parents can all hang around the campfire until they want. Sometimes we have to tell the parents to be quiet too, but not this group. This group is like family to us every year. We know their kids are going to be going to college soon and this too will have to end. Its sad to think about, but we'll take every day we can get.
My old friends come up this week too. Kari and I have been friends since kindergarten and she and her family come up this week. They are scattered around the U.S. and so coming back to this area, where they grew up, is like coming home to them too. I love it. Its like old home week. I wish more of my old friends would come up with their kids and family too.
Speaking of family, John spoke with his brother recently and it turns out we might not be open this winter. We might have someone live here for the winter to watch over the place. John's mom needs us to be there to help her keep her driveway plowed, checked and okay for the winter so she can visit Bud, John's dad, who's in a nursing home there. If we do that, it would be the first winter we would be shut down. We would probably spend Christmas and New Year's here at the resort, but then go to Door County by Denny and Bud. If that happens, we will need someone to live here who knows how to plow, or has a plow, so they can get in/out of the driveway. We'll see what happens. This is a new thought for us and this option has its pluses and minuses. We'll have to weigh all the options before we decide against having the cabins for rent in the winter like we've done every year up until now. We usually get snowmobilers, snowshoers, cross country skiers and downhill skiers at our resort. We have built up a clientele for these sports here and closing for the winter would mean they would have to find somewhere else. But almost, almost every winter we break even. So there wouldn't be too much of a loss at all if we closed. We will have to think about it.
Tomorrow church then reading the paper, sitting on the beach or whatever. Its my relaxing day.
The first year I was here, 2001, I met over 1,000 people. John bought the resort in 1998 and we met, then married in 2001. When I moved here, I had to meet all the customers, John's friends and all the relatives. That's a lot of people. But this particular week was forever etched in my memory instantly. The kids were younger then, as I said earlier, which also means they were a lot more trouble. I would have to tell them to stop shoving each other, stop throwing trash around, stop trying to pile everyone on the hammock or picnic table, etc. I told John that when they came back the next year that I would just have a notebook (and a stiff drink) in my hands and just add to their parent's bill all the things they break. I was sick of yelling at them. Well John was concerned about his new bride's complaint so he told all the customers about my frustration with the kids. I didn't know he told their parents anything but when I walked outside later, I could tell. Wherever any kids were playing, and I would walk by, they would stand at attention like they were in the military, say "Hi Mrs. Stratte" and be quiet until I passed. It was comical. Later they relaxed a lot but they never went back to causing trouble like they had. I would like to thank their parents for that - if you're reading this, "Thanks!".
Because of this group of kids, I also had to initiate the 11:00 p.m. quiet rule. These kids would run around playing ghosts in the graveyard or flashlight tag until 1 a.m. if we let them. So at first I said 10:30 p.m. everyone had to be quiet. The only problem with that is that up here it doesn't get really dark until 10:00 p.m. So that only left them one half hour. At least now they have to 11 p.m. and that has been okay for a few years. The parents appreciate that rule too. At the appointed hour, they make their kids go to the cabin and "be quiet" at 11. Then the parents can all hang around the campfire until they want. Sometimes we have to tell the parents to be quiet too, but not this group. This group is like family to us every year. We know their kids are going to be going to college soon and this too will have to end. Its sad to think about, but we'll take every day we can get.
My old friends come up this week too. Kari and I have been friends since kindergarten and she and her family come up this week. They are scattered around the U.S. and so coming back to this area, where they grew up, is like coming home to them too. I love it. Its like old home week. I wish more of my old friends would come up with their kids and family too.
Speaking of family, John spoke with his brother recently and it turns out we might not be open this winter. We might have someone live here for the winter to watch over the place. John's mom needs us to be there to help her keep her driveway plowed, checked and okay for the winter so she can visit Bud, John's dad, who's in a nursing home there. If we do that, it would be the first winter we would be shut down. We would probably spend Christmas and New Year's here at the resort, but then go to Door County by Denny and Bud. If that happens, we will need someone to live here who knows how to plow, or has a plow, so they can get in/out of the driveway. We'll see what happens. This is a new thought for us and this option has its pluses and minuses. We'll have to weigh all the options before we decide against having the cabins for rent in the winter like we've done every year up until now. We usually get snowmobilers, snowshoers, cross country skiers and downhill skiers at our resort. We have built up a clientele for these sports here and closing for the winter would mean they would have to find somewhere else. But almost, almost every winter we break even. So there wouldn't be too much of a loss at all if we closed. We will have to think about it.
Tomorrow church then reading the paper, sitting on the beach or whatever. Its my relaxing day.
Friday, July 23, 2010
10 out of 365 days of what it is like to run a resort
When I returned from my 2 mile fast walk, there stood a little boy in the lodge waiting for one of us to "wake" up. He had a couple donut holes he wanted to give us that he had saved for us. Its moments like these that make this life all worth while. On my walk I also saw a doe with two fawns with white spots. They were beautiful.
I really enjoy talking with people and their families. I love to ask them questions, hear their opinions and feelings. I've always been more of an observer than a talker (unless I have had a couple drinks). So when I sit in the lodge or on the beach and ask questions, talk and/or socialize, I feel like I am making new friends. I know our customers might not feel that way, because maybe they think I'm nosy, but I really enjoy talking with our customers. Tonight I found out more about a family who have been coming for years. I almost feel guilty I didn't ask them more about themselves years earlier.
The children who come here are a blessing to us because we don't have grandchildren yet, and John never had children. So every year we get to see the children again, and they're another few inches taller or bigger. One week there are 24 children who have been coming for the same week for over 9 years. They have grown up here and soon they will be leaving. It is sad to see that they have reached 16 or older now. Hopefully they will be back with their children in awhile. Now that will really feel like being a grandma.
My niece and nephew arrived tonight and will be here helping us for a week. Tommy, my nephew, is back this week because it is his favorite. He plays basketball a lot and fishes with the other young men and has a blast. This is my niece, Jaeden's, first full week here and I am sure she will love it too. Whenever Tommy comes, he helps John a lot with his chores. So now I have someone to help with mine and spend time with me. Hurray!
Today we worked on the office furniture and moved in some pieces I bought at a rummage. I hung pictures, dusted, organized, tried to get an old computer to work and filed paper. The office still isn't finished, but we have taken a big step toward great organization and workflow.
Customers were out on the lake innertubing, kayaking, swimming and fishing today. It was sunny and hot, their favorite kind of day. Tonight I noticed quite a few had sun burns.
After dinner a big group came into the lodge to pay and hang out a little. It was nice. They didn't come into the lodge all week like this and even though its the last night, I enjoyed it. They were laughing, having drinks and talking. Their kids were walking through to go outside by the campfire or coming back in to get a lollie pop. Now they all said good night and it is late. I still have to go downstairs to put away some laundry and make a couple of bags. I don't want to. Maybe I'll just go to bed now and get up early.
Tomorrow is Saturday again. Hopefully I will have at least 4 cleaning girls. I started out with 8 and last week only 2 were here. When that happens, I have to clean. I hope that doesn't happen this Saturday especially since Jaeden is here. Oh well, we'll deal with whatever we have to deal with.
I really enjoy talking with people and their families. I love to ask them questions, hear their opinions and feelings. I've always been more of an observer than a talker (unless I have had a couple drinks). So when I sit in the lodge or on the beach and ask questions, talk and/or socialize, I feel like I am making new friends. I know our customers might not feel that way, because maybe they think I'm nosy, but I really enjoy talking with our customers. Tonight I found out more about a family who have been coming for years. I almost feel guilty I didn't ask them more about themselves years earlier.
The children who come here are a blessing to us because we don't have grandchildren yet, and John never had children. So every year we get to see the children again, and they're another few inches taller or bigger. One week there are 24 children who have been coming for the same week for over 9 years. They have grown up here and soon they will be leaving. It is sad to see that they have reached 16 or older now. Hopefully they will be back with their children in awhile. Now that will really feel like being a grandma.
My niece and nephew arrived tonight and will be here helping us for a week. Tommy, my nephew, is back this week because it is his favorite. He plays basketball a lot and fishes with the other young men and has a blast. This is my niece, Jaeden's, first full week here and I am sure she will love it too. Whenever Tommy comes, he helps John a lot with his chores. So now I have someone to help with mine and spend time with me. Hurray!
Today we worked on the office furniture and moved in some pieces I bought at a rummage. I hung pictures, dusted, organized, tried to get an old computer to work and filed paper. The office still isn't finished, but we have taken a big step toward great organization and workflow.
Customers were out on the lake innertubing, kayaking, swimming and fishing today. It was sunny and hot, their favorite kind of day. Tonight I noticed quite a few had sun burns.
After dinner a big group came into the lodge to pay and hang out a little. It was nice. They didn't come into the lodge all week like this and even though its the last night, I enjoyed it. They were laughing, having drinks and talking. Their kids were walking through to go outside by the campfire or coming back in to get a lollie pop. Now they all said good night and it is late. I still have to go downstairs to put away some laundry and make a couple of bags. I don't want to. Maybe I'll just go to bed now and get up early.
Tomorrow is Saturday again. Hopefully I will have at least 4 cleaning girls. I started out with 8 and last week only 2 were here. When that happens, I have to clean. I hope that doesn't happen this Saturday especially since Jaeden is here. Oh well, we'll deal with whatever we have to deal with.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
9th day of what it is like to run a resort
The sunrise this morning was bright pink so I knew we were in for some bad weather. I was wrong. It never came. We got a couple sprinkles later but that was it. Milwaukee got 8 inches of rain and our customers are not from there, so they don't care.
John and I visited with some customers, did some "putzing" as we call it and then we started on the office again. We worked on that most of the day but we got a lot of interruptions. People wanted to buy ice cream cones, talk, and ask about waterfalls. We recommended several but they chose Superior Falls and Saxon Harbor. Saxon Harbor is about 40 minutes from us and is a favorite with little kids because of the huge sand dunes. The four boys who's parents took them there had a great time for hours climbing the sand cliffs. Then they went to Superior Falls, one of our favorites, to pick rocks, swim in the big lake Superior, explore and walk up to the falls.
We do a lot of outings with our customers, which a lot of resort owners don't do. In the past we took these and other customers to see these and other waterfalls. So now most of our customers go by themselves. We sort of feel left out sometimes. We know they are making the most of their vacation and that's important. A lot of other resort owners work full-time besides running their resort. Then the people who stay at the resort feel as though the owners don't care about them. We try very hard to make sure our customers feel wanted, needed and we will try our very best to make their vacation fun. One resort owner we talked to was so proud of the fact they fixed all their own windows, which saved them several thousands of dollars. We asked them how long it took and they said 40 hours and two weeks. They had dedicated almost every day for at least half a day working on those windows. We asked them more questions, and it turns out they don't do anything with their customers like we do. Now their business is gone. They can't get any rentals at all for their few cabins.
John deservedly gets all the credit at our resort for spending so much time with the customers on activities. He used to organize sports and recreation programs for people with disabilities for several years. When he didn't do that anymore, he organized recreation for our customers. When I came into the picture 2 years after he bought the resort, I just fell into his routine. I loved it so much and it felt so right to be here, helping, contributing, socializing, and he liked my company so much, that he asked me to marry him. It is very fulfilling to feel needed and so the rest is history.
Being the wife of a resort owner has its ups and downs. I no longer have that "deer in the headlight" look and haven't since the first year. I tried working full-time, part-time, doing side jobs like secretarial, but I hate being away from the resort. There is always something to do, something going on, someone to talk to and I love that. If we didn't send away all the sheets, etc. to a laundry service though, things would be different.
John and I have fallen into our individual routines now. I take care of the inside of the cabins, inside of our lodge/home, cooking, laundry, and most of the gardening/mowing. If something needs to be repaired and I cannot do it, John puts on one of his many hats, plumber or electrician for example, and he does it. He puts in the piers, the boats, winterizes the cabins, works on the rock walls, gravel, log cutting and manly man stuff like garbage runs. I used to do all the paperwork, but now John does that too, except the taxes. I still do those. He actually does more than me now and he spoils me that way. I love it. Eventually, when we get our bank business in order, I will take over the paperwork again. Its only fair and it is important for both spouses to be involved in the bookkeeping aspect of their mutual business, I think.
Most resort owners have a terrible personal home because they give everything they can to their cabins. I saw another resort owner's kitchen and I almost got sick. There were doors hanging by one hinge, holes in the floor, piles of household items everywhere, etc. I thought that was sad but hoped that was just hers, and not the majority of resort owners personal homes. Then I saw another resort owner's home. The same. I'm sorry, that wasn't how my grandmother brought me up. Since the first year of my moving in here, we have taken out drop ceilings, repaired ceiling holes, pulled out indoor/outdoor carpeting, refinished wood floors that were hiding underneath, painted old panelling, put stucco and paint and decorations up and now that the office is finished, the entire house is done. Nine years to finish our house isn't bad when you consider that we have 9 others to work on too. We put in all new mattresses, on all new roofs, replaced old sofas with sofa sleepers, added microwaves, homemade quilts (by me) and decorating themes. After awhile I noticed that there was enough of a mixture of things in the cabins that each cabin could have a theme. One is rustic - bears, canoes, alaska pictures; two is southwestern and Native American; three is baskets everywhere; four is farm; five is flowers; six is loons; seven is moose; eight is birds and bird houses; nine is whitetail deer. It was very fun doing this. I have an old friend who said that resort life was my destiny because when I was a kid, I had a loom, a sewing machine, loved to bake, was always cleaning and babysat a lot.
Tonight I ended up talking with a friend/customer until very late. So now its morning and time for bed. I hope you enjoyed tonight's blog.
John and I visited with some customers, did some "putzing" as we call it and then we started on the office again. We worked on that most of the day but we got a lot of interruptions. People wanted to buy ice cream cones, talk, and ask about waterfalls. We recommended several but they chose Superior Falls and Saxon Harbor. Saxon Harbor is about 40 minutes from us and is a favorite with little kids because of the huge sand dunes. The four boys who's parents took them there had a great time for hours climbing the sand cliffs. Then they went to Superior Falls, one of our favorites, to pick rocks, swim in the big lake Superior, explore and walk up to the falls.
We do a lot of outings with our customers, which a lot of resort owners don't do. In the past we took these and other customers to see these and other waterfalls. So now most of our customers go by themselves. We sort of feel left out sometimes. We know they are making the most of their vacation and that's important. A lot of other resort owners work full-time besides running their resort. Then the people who stay at the resort feel as though the owners don't care about them. We try very hard to make sure our customers feel wanted, needed and we will try our very best to make their vacation fun. One resort owner we talked to was so proud of the fact they fixed all their own windows, which saved them several thousands of dollars. We asked them how long it took and they said 40 hours and two weeks. They had dedicated almost every day for at least half a day working on those windows. We asked them more questions, and it turns out they don't do anything with their customers like we do. Now their business is gone. They can't get any rentals at all for their few cabins.
John deservedly gets all the credit at our resort for spending so much time with the customers on activities. He used to organize sports and recreation programs for people with disabilities for several years. When he didn't do that anymore, he organized recreation for our customers. When I came into the picture 2 years after he bought the resort, I just fell into his routine. I loved it so much and it felt so right to be here, helping, contributing, socializing, and he liked my company so much, that he asked me to marry him. It is very fulfilling to feel needed and so the rest is history.
Being the wife of a resort owner has its ups and downs. I no longer have that "deer in the headlight" look and haven't since the first year. I tried working full-time, part-time, doing side jobs like secretarial, but I hate being away from the resort. There is always something to do, something going on, someone to talk to and I love that. If we didn't send away all the sheets, etc. to a laundry service though, things would be different.
John and I have fallen into our individual routines now. I take care of the inside of the cabins, inside of our lodge/home, cooking, laundry, and most of the gardening/mowing. If something needs to be repaired and I cannot do it, John puts on one of his many hats, plumber or electrician for example, and he does it. He puts in the piers, the boats, winterizes the cabins, works on the rock walls, gravel, log cutting and manly man stuff like garbage runs. I used to do all the paperwork, but now John does that too, except the taxes. I still do those. He actually does more than me now and he spoils me that way. I love it. Eventually, when we get our bank business in order, I will take over the paperwork again. Its only fair and it is important for both spouses to be involved in the bookkeeping aspect of their mutual business, I think.
Most resort owners have a terrible personal home because they give everything they can to their cabins. I saw another resort owner's kitchen and I almost got sick. There were doors hanging by one hinge, holes in the floor, piles of household items everywhere, etc. I thought that was sad but hoped that was just hers, and not the majority of resort owners personal homes. Then I saw another resort owner's home. The same. I'm sorry, that wasn't how my grandmother brought me up. Since the first year of my moving in here, we have taken out drop ceilings, repaired ceiling holes, pulled out indoor/outdoor carpeting, refinished wood floors that were hiding underneath, painted old panelling, put stucco and paint and decorations up and now that the office is finished, the entire house is done. Nine years to finish our house isn't bad when you consider that we have 9 others to work on too. We put in all new mattresses, on all new roofs, replaced old sofas with sofa sleepers, added microwaves, homemade quilts (by me) and decorating themes. After awhile I noticed that there was enough of a mixture of things in the cabins that each cabin could have a theme. One is rustic - bears, canoes, alaska pictures; two is southwestern and Native American; three is baskets everywhere; four is farm; five is flowers; six is loons; seven is moose; eight is birds and bird houses; nine is whitetail deer. It was very fun doing this. I have an old friend who said that resort life was my destiny because when I was a kid, I had a loom, a sewing machine, loved to bake, was always cleaning and babysat a lot.
Tonight I ended up talking with a friend/customer until very late. So now its morning and time for bed. I hope you enjoyed tonight's blog.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Day 8 of 365 Days of What it is like to run a resort
Another sunny morning and I couldn't get out of bed. I was up too late last night typing this blog. So I was late in getting my 2 mile walk in, which almost made me late for the meeting with the banker. I had just finished getting dressed, and my make-up on, etc. when the banker was here.
We have had issues with banks for years. The first bank John had his loan through for the resort was good for a couple of years. Then they said he was a "risk" for some reason, but he always paid all the bills/mortgage on time. So we went to another bank who said they were incorrect and would be more than happy to have our business. The second bank loaned us a line of credit loan, which is imperative in this type of business. Then they got bought out by two banks since we've been with them. Now we've been with this bank for several years for our business checking and line of credit loan only. The banker came out a few weeks ago to do a site visit to make sure what we had as collateral wasn't falling apart or something. Everything was fine. But the banker returned to tell us that we MIGHT have to have an appraisal and/or title search and/or a survey. What? With all the banking problems of the last several years, they are enacting new policies. We are not listed as a risk, but because we about break even every year, they want to know that they're covered. We've always paid our mortgage, all our bills on time, clear out our debt with the line of credit after almost every summer, etc. So we are a GREAT customer and they said so, but they still might want us to give them more information. Amazing, frustrating and, perhaps, reminiscent of the depression era when banks pulled their mortgages on people - pay it all now or we own your home, or in our case one cabin (collateral). Are any of you having trouble with your banks too? We hope not.
After the banker left, John got all the cardboard and aluminum ready for me to take to the recycling center. We donate all the cans to the Mercer school. So when kids from the area come asking for some donation or other, we don't feel bad just getting one thing from them. John works very hard picking out the cans people throw in the large recycle bin, transferring them to plastic bags and loading/taking them into town in our van. No one likes dumpster diving but he will just so he can get some aluminum cans out for the school kids. We have large cans just outside the recycle bin marked "Aluminum Cans Only For Mercer School" but sometimes people don't see this.
After the meeting with the banker and after I dropped off the recycling, I went to the biggest rummage sale of the year. I got 2 office desks for our office. We've been using antique tables and falling apart laminate desks, which have been working okay, but are very difficult to keep organized. For $20 I got a desk that extends out and one side is rounded. We will put that between my office area and John's for our printers. With the rounded edges we can move between our desks with ease and fewer bruises. I also got a desk topper - upper cabinet with shelves and doors. This will attach to our old desk and make it easier to organize and get things while still sitting. Maybe we can be so organized that it will take less time to work on paperwork. Our office is a small bedroom that faces the parking lot area. It used to be that our office was in our dining area. Our dining table was pushed over to a wall and holidays were frustrating trying to get everyone gathered around. So we moved the office out of the way into a spare bedroom. Because our house is a smattering of old furniture, cabin rejects and hand-me-down antiques, so is the office. We have a file cabinet from the 40's, a desk from the 70's and an antique farm table that's barely big enough for two that holds our printers. Now our office will work better-in theory that is.
I also got some $1 coffee makers, toasters and clock radios. These are items that break fast and so we go through a few every year. I spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning them, checking them and putting some in cabins. We have a large storage area in the basement where we keep spare household items. I will put the coffee makers and toasters down there after they dry from my cleaning efforts. There are floor to ceiling shelves about 2 feet deep and 15 feet long in our basement. They hold cleaning supplies, extra silverware, dishes, pots/pans, lamp shades, glasses and you name it. When a customer comes in to get something their cabin is lacking, I give them one from my kitchen, which is clean. Then I go downstairs and find another one for my kitchen, which usually has to be cleaned, etc. It saves the customer time to do it this way - grab it and give it and away they go. Our clock radios get trashed usually by either the speaker getting blown out or something getting spilled on it. Coffee makers are usually done for after 5 years at the maximum. We went through two of them this summer already so I had used up my reserves. Now I was set. I also got a recliner for $3. I had picked out a very nice chair with oak carved wood arms, but when they put the chair into my van for me after I backed it up, it was the wrong one. I never saw them put it in because the desks were in the way. Now I have someone's $3 recliner with a slightly dirty arm. Its cleanable but I am sad I didn't get my chair. How can two guys in 2 minutes be standing by my chair and then pick up another to transport? Intentional?
I also got a shower chair for people with disabilities. We do a few programs each year for people with disabilities here. In the spring we have an ATV rally for people with disabilities through Adaptive Sportsmen. In the fall we do a kayak outing for anyone who is interested who has a disability. Then the Spina Bifida Assoc. of Wisconsin comes to our resort in September. So we go through a lot of adaptive equipment. The shower chair looks brand new and was only a $1.
The desks are still in the minivan because every job around here is a process. For instance to get the desks up to the office, we first have to have the office ready. Trim has to be fixed on a wall, shelves have to be put up because they are currently sitting on the floor, in the way, and the floor needed to be fixed in a spot. So for most of the afternoon John and I worked on the office. Our customers were out in their boats or up at the Porcupine Mountains hiking so we weren't needed. We got a lot done, but have to finish tomorrow.
This spring I wanted to have some topsoil brought in for the Ironwood cabin and it wasn't that easy. Everything here is a process. First we had to pull out as many rocks as we could from the area. Then we had to pile them and load them in a trailer. Then we had to transport them to another area for a later project. Then we had to work on getting some trees planted. We never got the top soil put in before summer. Maybe next spring or this fall.
I served some ice cream cones today in some new waffle cups I bought. The kids loved them and took them outside to show their parents. I'm sure I'll find the plastic spoons all over the place tomorrow. Oh well.
John went down to see if there was a campfire tonight around 9:30 p.m. but was back in 15 minutes. He said the mosquitoes were worse than when he lived in Alaska. Now that's bad.
We have had issues with banks for years. The first bank John had his loan through for the resort was good for a couple of years. Then they said he was a "risk" for some reason, but he always paid all the bills/mortgage on time. So we went to another bank who said they were incorrect and would be more than happy to have our business. The second bank loaned us a line of credit loan, which is imperative in this type of business. Then they got bought out by two banks since we've been with them. Now we've been with this bank for several years for our business checking and line of credit loan only. The banker came out a few weeks ago to do a site visit to make sure what we had as collateral wasn't falling apart or something. Everything was fine. But the banker returned to tell us that we MIGHT have to have an appraisal and/or title search and/or a survey. What? With all the banking problems of the last several years, they are enacting new policies. We are not listed as a risk, but because we about break even every year, they want to know that they're covered. We've always paid our mortgage, all our bills on time, clear out our debt with the line of credit after almost every summer, etc. So we are a GREAT customer and they said so, but they still might want us to give them more information. Amazing, frustrating and, perhaps, reminiscent of the depression era when banks pulled their mortgages on people - pay it all now or we own your home, or in our case one cabin (collateral). Are any of you having trouble with your banks too? We hope not.
After the banker left, John got all the cardboard and aluminum ready for me to take to the recycling center. We donate all the cans to the Mercer school. So when kids from the area come asking for some donation or other, we don't feel bad just getting one thing from them. John works very hard picking out the cans people throw in the large recycle bin, transferring them to plastic bags and loading/taking them into town in our van. No one likes dumpster diving but he will just so he can get some aluminum cans out for the school kids. We have large cans just outside the recycle bin marked "Aluminum Cans Only For Mercer School" but sometimes people don't see this.
After the meeting with the banker and after I dropped off the recycling, I went to the biggest rummage sale of the year. I got 2 office desks for our office. We've been using antique tables and falling apart laminate desks, which have been working okay, but are very difficult to keep organized. For $20 I got a desk that extends out and one side is rounded. We will put that between my office area and John's for our printers. With the rounded edges we can move between our desks with ease and fewer bruises. I also got a desk topper - upper cabinet with shelves and doors. This will attach to our old desk and make it easier to organize and get things while still sitting. Maybe we can be so organized that it will take less time to work on paperwork. Our office is a small bedroom that faces the parking lot area. It used to be that our office was in our dining area. Our dining table was pushed over to a wall and holidays were frustrating trying to get everyone gathered around. So we moved the office out of the way into a spare bedroom. Because our house is a smattering of old furniture, cabin rejects and hand-me-down antiques, so is the office. We have a file cabinet from the 40's, a desk from the 70's and an antique farm table that's barely big enough for two that holds our printers. Now our office will work better-in theory that is.
I also got some $1 coffee makers, toasters and clock radios. These are items that break fast and so we go through a few every year. I spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning them, checking them and putting some in cabins. We have a large storage area in the basement where we keep spare household items. I will put the coffee makers and toasters down there after they dry from my cleaning efforts. There are floor to ceiling shelves about 2 feet deep and 15 feet long in our basement. They hold cleaning supplies, extra silverware, dishes, pots/pans, lamp shades, glasses and you name it. When a customer comes in to get something their cabin is lacking, I give them one from my kitchen, which is clean. Then I go downstairs and find another one for my kitchen, which usually has to be cleaned, etc. It saves the customer time to do it this way - grab it and give it and away they go. Our clock radios get trashed usually by either the speaker getting blown out or something getting spilled on it. Coffee makers are usually done for after 5 years at the maximum. We went through two of them this summer already so I had used up my reserves. Now I was set. I also got a recliner for $3. I had picked out a very nice chair with oak carved wood arms, but when they put the chair into my van for me after I backed it up, it was the wrong one. I never saw them put it in because the desks were in the way. Now I have someone's $3 recliner with a slightly dirty arm. Its cleanable but I am sad I didn't get my chair. How can two guys in 2 minutes be standing by my chair and then pick up another to transport? Intentional?
I also got a shower chair for people with disabilities. We do a few programs each year for people with disabilities here. In the spring we have an ATV rally for people with disabilities through Adaptive Sportsmen. In the fall we do a kayak outing for anyone who is interested who has a disability. Then the Spina Bifida Assoc. of Wisconsin comes to our resort in September. So we go through a lot of adaptive equipment. The shower chair looks brand new and was only a $1.
The desks are still in the minivan because every job around here is a process. For instance to get the desks up to the office, we first have to have the office ready. Trim has to be fixed on a wall, shelves have to be put up because they are currently sitting on the floor, in the way, and the floor needed to be fixed in a spot. So for most of the afternoon John and I worked on the office. Our customers were out in their boats or up at the Porcupine Mountains hiking so we weren't needed. We got a lot done, but have to finish tomorrow.
This spring I wanted to have some topsoil brought in for the Ironwood cabin and it wasn't that easy. Everything here is a process. First we had to pull out as many rocks as we could from the area. Then we had to pile them and load them in a trailer. Then we had to transport them to another area for a later project. Then we had to work on getting some trees planted. We never got the top soil put in before summer. Maybe next spring or this fall.
I served some ice cream cones today in some new waffle cups I bought. The kids loved them and took them outside to show their parents. I'm sure I'll find the plastic spoons all over the place tomorrow. Oh well.
John went down to see if there was a campfire tonight around 9:30 p.m. but was back in 15 minutes. He said the mosquitoes were worse than when he lived in Alaska. Now that's bad.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Day 7 of 365 Days of What It Is Like To Run a Resort
Today was an easy day for me. I put away a lot of dry rugs, did a load of laundry, cleaned a 3 bedroom cabin by myself for a late arrival this week and sold a lot of kiddy cocktails and ice cream cones. This morning I felt the need to take a 2 mile fast walk. This is mostly because last night was pot luck, but also because I have been enjoying many pot lucks. On my walk I saw two customers and we greeted each other. It was a beautiful morning and fun to see them out so early after being up so late with me the night before having fun. Later in the day they went golfing at the local Tahoe Lynx course and saw a bear on the way home. They had a great day.
John had a busy day. He took some customers kayaking up stream, got rained on twice in two hours too, but they all enjoyed it. He also went swimming and snorkeling, as he does every day. He said the water was wonderfully warm. I am ashamed to say I haven't even been in swimming yet. When I was a kid I would go every day. Now that the lake is right here, I don't.
Tomorrow the garbage dumpster gets picked up so John did a garbage run. He picks up all the bags from around our house/lodge, picks up the stinky garbage from the fish cleaning house and takes it all up to the dumpster. Then he had to put a steel cover over the dumpster, secure it with a cable so no bears get in, and all this while swatting mosquitoes.
Later John and I went down to the campfire area to visit with customers. They had a very nice fire going. Some were roasting kielbasa, but mostly they were talking and drinking, which is a lot of fun. The campfire is a great place to gather and talk. We only have one campfire pit for the entire resort, which is for several reasons. One being that people get a little carried away sometimes with what they throw in the fire; two so our resort doesn't get burnt to the ground; three it would be 9 campfires to watch over and clean up after; and the obvious - we don't want to supply all that firewood for 9 campfires! We have a few people on our lake who will bring over their junk wood - pine, etc. that they don't want to burn in their fireplaces. We are more than happy for them to do this. If it weren't for these wonderful volunteers on our lake, we would run out of wood real fast. Its just too much hard work to keep up with the resort's regular duties and get cords of firewood. I had to get firewood all my childhood because our house was heated with wood, and I swore I would never do that when I grew up. Its hard work and a waste of beautiful days to be hauling wood, cutting wood, stacking wood, etc. I could rant and rave about this in detail, but my anger about firewood will burn out now. The campfire pit is next to our shore and boat landing area. So as we sit around the fire, we can hear the loons and watch the lights on the lake. Sometimes we even see the northern lights to the north. When that happens, its the greatest thing we can offer our customers - to see the northern lights. One time years ago, the lights were so amazing at 11:00 p.m. that I went around and woke up those who were sleeping to tell them they had to see the northern lights. When they saw them, they didn't mind at all. They haven't been as amazing since, but we keep looking because we have seen them quite often.
We got two e-mails today of customers and their fish. One was of a huge small mouth bass, another a musky. The musky was the first one the young man ever caught. It was Kendrick's 32 inch long musky and what a beauty. I had asked him to send the picture so I could put it on the bulletin board in the lodge. So it was nice to receive it. I printed it up and before I could even get to the bulletin board, I had two other young men anxious to see. They have been fishing a lot since their arrival on Saturday. One caught a 14 inch large mouth off our main pier this morning, which was very exciting for everyone to see. Yesterday one of the kids saw a huge snapping turtle in our lagoon. They look so prehistoric! It was scary enough for them to leave it alone - smart kids. The size of the thing is scary because it could probably have bitten off a toe or finger if it so desired. Mostly though those turtles are very skittish and will swim away quickly from anyone.
When John snorkels around our lake shore, he sees a lot of fish. The muskies just look at him and don't move. All the other fish and turtles scamper away right away. He said one time he saw a snapper and it couldn't get away fast enough, which was great.
Back in 2000 and 2001, we worked very hard with our Lake Association to get the pan fish to rally on our lake. Because there are so many predator fish in here: musky, walleye, northern, bass, it is difficult to keep a large population of pan fish. So knowing this, the Lake Association contacted the DNR and together we put together over 60 fish cribs and planted over 10,000 fingerling fish (small) in our lake. As the guys, John included, worked their butts off in the snow covered yard, I made a warm stew to serve them. They had a bunch of logs delivered (hard cores from a panelling company), drilled holes on each end, stacked the logs like Lincoln log cabins, put a cable through each hole to strap them together, put piles of branches into the structure, attached cement blocks with rope, dragged them onto the ice of the lake and let them go until Spring time. Some stayed on our shoreline until they became water logged (around July) and then they dragged them to their spots. The fish lay their eggs in these structures, they hatch into fish, are protected in the structure for awhile and this gives them a much better chance at survival. Our pan fish have rallied because of this and finally the past couple years people have been able to keep some of good size for filets.
Tomorrow we meet with our financial advisor at 9 a.m. It is also the big day of the Manitowish Waters Fleazar sale. I hate to not be there when the doors open at 8 a.m., but I have to wait. That just means we might not get the sofa sleeper of my dreams or the unbreakable kitchen chairs I know are out there waiting. Oh well, I'll just go after the advisor leaves.
John had a busy day. He took some customers kayaking up stream, got rained on twice in two hours too, but they all enjoyed it. He also went swimming and snorkeling, as he does every day. He said the water was wonderfully warm. I am ashamed to say I haven't even been in swimming yet. When I was a kid I would go every day. Now that the lake is right here, I don't.
Tomorrow the garbage dumpster gets picked up so John did a garbage run. He picks up all the bags from around our house/lodge, picks up the stinky garbage from the fish cleaning house and takes it all up to the dumpster. Then he had to put a steel cover over the dumpster, secure it with a cable so no bears get in, and all this while swatting mosquitoes.
Later John and I went down to the campfire area to visit with customers. They had a very nice fire going. Some were roasting kielbasa, but mostly they were talking and drinking, which is a lot of fun. The campfire is a great place to gather and talk. We only have one campfire pit for the entire resort, which is for several reasons. One being that people get a little carried away sometimes with what they throw in the fire; two so our resort doesn't get burnt to the ground; three it would be 9 campfires to watch over and clean up after; and the obvious - we don't want to supply all that firewood for 9 campfires! We have a few people on our lake who will bring over their junk wood - pine, etc. that they don't want to burn in their fireplaces. We are more than happy for them to do this. If it weren't for these wonderful volunteers on our lake, we would run out of wood real fast. Its just too much hard work to keep up with the resort's regular duties and get cords of firewood. I had to get firewood all my childhood because our house was heated with wood, and I swore I would never do that when I grew up. Its hard work and a waste of beautiful days to be hauling wood, cutting wood, stacking wood, etc. I could rant and rave about this in detail, but my anger about firewood will burn out now. The campfire pit is next to our shore and boat landing area. So as we sit around the fire, we can hear the loons and watch the lights on the lake. Sometimes we even see the northern lights to the north. When that happens, its the greatest thing we can offer our customers - to see the northern lights. One time years ago, the lights were so amazing at 11:00 p.m. that I went around and woke up those who were sleeping to tell them they had to see the northern lights. When they saw them, they didn't mind at all. They haven't been as amazing since, but we keep looking because we have seen them quite often.
We got two e-mails today of customers and their fish. One was of a huge small mouth bass, another a musky. The musky was the first one the young man ever caught. It was Kendrick's 32 inch long musky and what a beauty. I had asked him to send the picture so I could put it on the bulletin board in the lodge. So it was nice to receive it. I printed it up and before I could even get to the bulletin board, I had two other young men anxious to see. They have been fishing a lot since their arrival on Saturday. One caught a 14 inch large mouth off our main pier this morning, which was very exciting for everyone to see. Yesterday one of the kids saw a huge snapping turtle in our lagoon. They look so prehistoric! It was scary enough for them to leave it alone - smart kids. The size of the thing is scary because it could probably have bitten off a toe or finger if it so desired. Mostly though those turtles are very skittish and will swim away quickly from anyone.
When John snorkels around our lake shore, he sees a lot of fish. The muskies just look at him and don't move. All the other fish and turtles scamper away right away. He said one time he saw a snapper and it couldn't get away fast enough, which was great.
Back in 2000 and 2001, we worked very hard with our Lake Association to get the pan fish to rally on our lake. Because there are so many predator fish in here: musky, walleye, northern, bass, it is difficult to keep a large population of pan fish. So knowing this, the Lake Association contacted the DNR and together we put together over 60 fish cribs and planted over 10,000 fingerling fish (small) in our lake. As the guys, John included, worked their butts off in the snow covered yard, I made a warm stew to serve them. They had a bunch of logs delivered (hard cores from a panelling company), drilled holes on each end, stacked the logs like Lincoln log cabins, put a cable through each hole to strap them together, put piles of branches into the structure, attached cement blocks with rope, dragged them onto the ice of the lake and let them go until Spring time. Some stayed on our shoreline until they became water logged (around July) and then they dragged them to their spots. The fish lay their eggs in these structures, they hatch into fish, are protected in the structure for awhile and this gives them a much better chance at survival. Our pan fish have rallied because of this and finally the past couple years people have been able to keep some of good size for filets.
Tomorrow we meet with our financial advisor at 9 a.m. It is also the big day of the Manitowish Waters Fleazar sale. I hate to not be there when the doors open at 8 a.m., but I have to wait. That just means we might not get the sofa sleeper of my dreams or the unbreakable kitchen chairs I know are out there waiting. Oh well, I'll just go after the advisor leaves.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Day 6 of 365 of What it Is Like To Run A Resort
Monday! I love them now that I help run a resort. Mondays are pot luck days. We have a pot luck at 6:00 p.m. every Monday in the summer. It is a good way for our customers to meet who is here for the week and is a fun get together. Tonight's pot luck was fun and, in fact, the majority of the group is still out on the deck partying. We almost didn't have a pot luck this week because 5 of the 7 cabins are one group (all related) and at first weren't going to participate. We always invite our neighbor, Harry, to join us for pot lucks in the summer. He is 80 years old, lives by himself, and loves to talk so our pot lucks are wonderful fodder for his tales. The only problem is most of our customers are returning customers so they've heard all his stories before. Thankfully, they don't mind too much hearing them again.
It's 10:55 p.m. which is a little late for our bar to still be hopping. We don't advertise the bar business because we want to have a life. So we hardly ever get people from the lake or town at our bar. We don't have set hours, don't stay open past 10:30 p.m. if no one is in the bar and we discourage people from staying in the bar all afternoon. Believe it or not there are some people who would like nothing else than to sit in the bar and look out the windows at the north woods instead of walk in them. Funny. We discourage that and sometimes that means they are unhappy. But we would much rather be outside taking our customers on kayak outings or talking with them on the beach then in the bar.
By early morning our internet was fixed and Wi-Fi is on again. John took a large group out kayaking on the up stream part of the Turtle River. Usually the water is not high enough to go up stream, but this year it is so he is taking advantage of that fact. The group was gone about 2 hours. Then John swam around and snorkeled with the kids and by himself. The customers really liked the outing. They saw an osprey dive into the water after a fish and on their way back on the river saw the osprey with its wings spread out to dry. They said they even saw it shake out a wing and water droplets fly off. That would be so cool. I've never seen that.
John enjoys kayaking and said that the kids made him laugh. They wanted to take turns sitting in the middle of John's kayak to be next to Senna, our golden retriever. She loves to kayak with John and in our 3-hole kayak, she sits in the middle, or queen seat. It is very cute. In fact, she loves to be by John no matter where he is. If he is snorkeling, she will follow him along the shore or if he gets close, will swim out to him and circle him in the water. If he goes too far out, like to the island, she will sit on the pier and watch him until he comes back. Buddy, our shepherd, never swims.
I always feel better if I get work done. So today I worked on my e-mails, did 3 loads of laundry, organized the basement laundry area, cleaned half our bathroom, vacuumed and swept the lodge, cleaned out part of the refrigerator, went to the grocery store and post office. I had to mail a shirt, hat and earrings that customers forgot in their cabin. This happens quite often. I had to get the huge laundry bin ready for pick up tomorrow morning. Lake Superior Laundry will pick it up on Tuesday morning and drop it off all cleaned, ironed, folded and shrink wrapped on Friday. That's a lovely thing. If I had to do all the sheets, I probably wouldn't have any life. That would be a full-time job in itself.
I also visited with a friend who moved away but was here for a visit. She used to be our neighbor and I miss her. But she is much happier where she is so that's the main thing. Friendships are hard to keep in this business because I cannot leave to go much of anywhere in the summer. The summer is when most other people can take vacations and spend time with others. So its hard. I have a wonderful, best friend who lives 4 hours away and I wish we lived closer. It would be so fun to be able to hang out or go to the movies or whatever like we used to when I lived by her. Oh well, I can't complain. I see a lot of people during the summer and I have a lot of social situations with the resort. It is a lot of fun. But a best friend is important too.
For pot luck I made a Greek salad, beef stroganoff and a salsa/chip snack. I put out grapes too. It doesn't have to be cohesive because its a pot luck after all. So I have fun picking out new recipes. If I make something and I don't like it, at least I won't be eating it for a week because at pot luck almost everything goes. The Greek salad was good but I don't think I'll make it again. It had couscous, walnuts, dates and goat cheese on lettuce. It was pretty plain tasting so I put some balsamic salad dressing on the lettuce and that made all the difference.
After pot luck a lot of people were gathered out on the deck right outside the bar door. They were talking, laughing, drinking, and had a lot of citronella candles lit. The mosquitoes are bad so I got out my new Thermacell mosquito repeller. It worked pretty good for awhile. Then I noticed what time it was and came in to do the blog. They are still going strong outside and its 11:17 p.m. now. They're getting pretty loud out there too. Its a good thing that they are all in a large group so no one cabin will get angry about the noise. So I don't have to worry this time. If they were doing this and someone was in a nearby cabin, I would have to tell them to quiet down.
Today John did a lot of paperwork. Every month he does the sales and use tax form on-line. That is the one thing I have never done. That's were we have to record all the tax we took in and pay back the state. He also did some bills and paperwork. I ordered some vacuum cleaner bags from Henry's in Woodruff. Our grocery store doesn't sell the bags our commercial vacuum uses, so we have to call and have them shipped to us. They weren't open last Saturday evening when I drove by around 7:30 p.m., go figure.
After pot luck John went around and got the recycling from the lodge and garbage from the house. Then he put it on our ATV/trailer and drove around to all the garbage cans and made a garbage run. The recycling dumpster comes tomorrow morning. Since we have recycle bins in the cabins, a recycling dumpster and a compost bin outside, we qualify to be a "green" resort. Only you have to pay $225 a year to be registered as a green resort to receive their green certifications. What a scam.
We didn't get out today to try to find the anchor that fell off our pontoon. So that's the only goal for tomorrow. Snorkel and find an anchor. What a job, but someone's got to do it.
It's 10:55 p.m. which is a little late for our bar to still be hopping. We don't advertise the bar business because we want to have a life. So we hardly ever get people from the lake or town at our bar. We don't have set hours, don't stay open past 10:30 p.m. if no one is in the bar and we discourage people from staying in the bar all afternoon. Believe it or not there are some people who would like nothing else than to sit in the bar and look out the windows at the north woods instead of walk in them. Funny. We discourage that and sometimes that means they are unhappy. But we would much rather be outside taking our customers on kayak outings or talking with them on the beach then in the bar.
By early morning our internet was fixed and Wi-Fi is on again. John took a large group out kayaking on the up stream part of the Turtle River. Usually the water is not high enough to go up stream, but this year it is so he is taking advantage of that fact. The group was gone about 2 hours. Then John swam around and snorkeled with the kids and by himself. The customers really liked the outing. They saw an osprey dive into the water after a fish and on their way back on the river saw the osprey with its wings spread out to dry. They said they even saw it shake out a wing and water droplets fly off. That would be so cool. I've never seen that.
John enjoys kayaking and said that the kids made him laugh. They wanted to take turns sitting in the middle of John's kayak to be next to Senna, our golden retriever. She loves to kayak with John and in our 3-hole kayak, she sits in the middle, or queen seat. It is very cute. In fact, she loves to be by John no matter where he is. If he is snorkeling, she will follow him along the shore or if he gets close, will swim out to him and circle him in the water. If he goes too far out, like to the island, she will sit on the pier and watch him until he comes back. Buddy, our shepherd, never swims.
I always feel better if I get work done. So today I worked on my e-mails, did 3 loads of laundry, organized the basement laundry area, cleaned half our bathroom, vacuumed and swept the lodge, cleaned out part of the refrigerator, went to the grocery store and post office. I had to mail a shirt, hat and earrings that customers forgot in their cabin. This happens quite often. I had to get the huge laundry bin ready for pick up tomorrow morning. Lake Superior Laundry will pick it up on Tuesday morning and drop it off all cleaned, ironed, folded and shrink wrapped on Friday. That's a lovely thing. If I had to do all the sheets, I probably wouldn't have any life. That would be a full-time job in itself.
I also visited with a friend who moved away but was here for a visit. She used to be our neighbor and I miss her. But she is much happier where she is so that's the main thing. Friendships are hard to keep in this business because I cannot leave to go much of anywhere in the summer. The summer is when most other people can take vacations and spend time with others. So its hard. I have a wonderful, best friend who lives 4 hours away and I wish we lived closer. It would be so fun to be able to hang out or go to the movies or whatever like we used to when I lived by her. Oh well, I can't complain. I see a lot of people during the summer and I have a lot of social situations with the resort. It is a lot of fun. But a best friend is important too.
For pot luck I made a Greek salad, beef stroganoff and a salsa/chip snack. I put out grapes too. It doesn't have to be cohesive because its a pot luck after all. So I have fun picking out new recipes. If I make something and I don't like it, at least I won't be eating it for a week because at pot luck almost everything goes. The Greek salad was good but I don't think I'll make it again. It had couscous, walnuts, dates and goat cheese on lettuce. It was pretty plain tasting so I put some balsamic salad dressing on the lettuce and that made all the difference.
After pot luck a lot of people were gathered out on the deck right outside the bar door. They were talking, laughing, drinking, and had a lot of citronella candles lit. The mosquitoes are bad so I got out my new Thermacell mosquito repeller. It worked pretty good for awhile. Then I noticed what time it was and came in to do the blog. They are still going strong outside and its 11:17 p.m. now. They're getting pretty loud out there too. Its a good thing that they are all in a large group so no one cabin will get angry about the noise. So I don't have to worry this time. If they were doing this and someone was in a nearby cabin, I would have to tell them to quiet down.
Today John did a lot of paperwork. Every month he does the sales and use tax form on-line. That is the one thing I have never done. That's were we have to record all the tax we took in and pay back the state. He also did some bills and paperwork. I ordered some vacuum cleaner bags from Henry's in Woodruff. Our grocery store doesn't sell the bags our commercial vacuum uses, so we have to call and have them shipped to us. They weren't open last Saturday evening when I drove by around 7:30 p.m., go figure.
After pot luck John went around and got the recycling from the lodge and garbage from the house. Then he put it on our ATV/trailer and drove around to all the garbage cans and made a garbage run. The recycling dumpster comes tomorrow morning. Since we have recycle bins in the cabins, a recycling dumpster and a compost bin outside, we qualify to be a "green" resort. Only you have to pay $225 a year to be registered as a green resort to receive their green certifications. What a scam.
We didn't get out today to try to find the anchor that fell off our pontoon. So that's the only goal for tomorrow. Snorkel and find an anchor. What a job, but someone's got to do it.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Day 5 of 365 days of what it is like to run a resort
Sunday, my usual day of "rest". Or I try to rest, I should say. Crows or ravens woke me and customers up around 7 a.m. They were calling loudly from a tree outside the lodge's window. After awhile I fell back asleep but then didn't get up in time to go to church like I usually do. So no trip into town means no Sunday Journal for John either.
By 9:30 a.m. John had a request to guide a woodland hike. So he started out. I looked out the window and there were several kids all waiting for him to guide them on a hike through the woods. John said something and they all laughed as they followed him up the road. All kids who come here love John. He never had any kids of his own, but with all the kids who come to our resort, he has a very large extended family.
Customers needed a lot of little things today: info on jet skiing places (not here), towels, toilet plunging, to rent a boat, info on kayak outings tomorrow, and a new anchor. We rented out our boat but when they put the anchor down, the rope broke so we lost an anchor. I found them a new rope which wasn't even used yet, found them a used anchor and off they went again. Tomorrow John will try to snorkel to find the anchor, which was a large, nice one.
The mosquitoes are very bad because of all the rain we got the last 30 or so days. So everyone who steps outside has to spray deet on and everywhere you meet someone, you can smell their bug repellent.
I did some laundry, which has accumulated in the basement from yesterday. There's a huge pile of things to clean and put away. I got a good start on it today. I did two loads of just throw rugs and one of just rags. We cut up a lot of old towels and use them for cleaning rags on Saturdays. If I don't clean them right away, they really start to smell. I hung up the throw rugs on the basement clothes lines because throwing them in the dryer would ruin their rubber backing.
For a Sunday the telephone was ringing off the hook this morning. We didn't get any new bookings yet though.
John saw an osprey being chased by an eagle over the resort today. He said usually a person would think the osprey was a pretty large bird, but next to an eagle, it looks much smaller.
I served a lot of kiddy cocktails (not kitty as previously put), ice cream cones, root beer floats and sodas today. Its always fun to have a lot of kids on the lodge. They played foosball and tried to talk my ear off several times during the day.
One of the customers brought in their lap top and showed us their vacation pictures from Dominican Republic. That was really nice to see. We are always happy to see pictures of our customers/friends at somewhere else besides here. That helps us to get to know them better and have other conversation topics with them too.
That's another thing about running a resort that's very important - getting to know your customer. It was very difficult for me to not want to talk about myself all the time. I felt that the person I was talking to should know me a little in every conversation. Wrong! In this business, the person who is staying at our resort is the most important. I need to ask them all questions about themselves and their lives, how the last year has been, how their business and kids are, etc. I had to re-wire my brain to do this. Sometimes still, after 9 years, I catch myself talking a lot about me. Maybe it'll be a life long project for me, but other people would probably be fine with this right from the start. Regardless I am finding out that I am becoming a much better listener, am getting to know people much better and I feel much better in the long run about myself. Hopefully the customer will leave feeling better about talking with me too.
Owning a bar and resort means you cannot tell others about each other either. Its almost like being a psychiatrist, lawyer, best friend and sister all in one. Whatever you tell me stays with me because you are like family when you stay here.
Becoming a good friend with customers can also backfire on us though. We had some customers cancel last minute and it cost us $2100.00. Since we consider them a friend, we didn't pressure them to send in the full deposit we usually do. So when they cancelled their 3 cabins (family & their friends), we were out a lot of money. One of their friends called us to tell us they were very sorry when they cancelled too, and we could hear it in their voices, but that sure doesn't help our bottom line.
Whatever we make in the summer has to last us throughout the year. So taking such a huge hit means we have to eliminate something along the line. Do we stop providing a lot of things like paper products in the cabins so customers have to buy their own? Or do we stop providing something else for ourselves? I cannot imagine what that would be. John has been thinking along the same lines and so he made an appointment with a financial advisor this Wednesday. We need to know if we can refinance, if we don't have to worry, or if we should sell a cabin or 2 or what. Sometimes selfish people don't realize how they effect others, which is very sad. We are sure we will be fine, and don't worry about us, but we want to be proactive too. If we just sat on our hands and did nothing but watch the boulder roll down the hill at us, how stupid would that be? It'll hit a bump and go the other way, I'm sure.
John swam around the island again today. He has been doing that for exercise and therapy on his sore shoulders. He said since he has been swimming his shoulders have not been hurting as much and that the exercise feels great. I'm glad. Walking is more difficult for him than others because he has braces on his ankles and walks with canes/sticks. He fell when he was 21 and broke his back. When I say fell, I mean 150 feet and he's lucky to be alive. So swimming is great for him as exercise.
Tomorrow morning we will be taking a group kayaking up stream to a beaver dam, which is always pretty. Then tomorrow night is the weekly, Monday night, pot luck, which might not happen. We have a large group here this week and sometimes they don't do the pot luck. We'll find out tomorrow. I hope we still do pot luck. I love pot luck. Its a great way for everyone to meet who's here for the week and be social with each other. Sometimes customers just stay to themselves the entire week and not meet who's here so the pot luck was started as an ice breaker. I love to cook so this is always great fun for me to try new recipes too. If something I pick to cook isn't that great, at least I won't be eating it for a week. At pot luck almost everything goes that night. Fun!
By 9:30 a.m. John had a request to guide a woodland hike. So he started out. I looked out the window and there were several kids all waiting for him to guide them on a hike through the woods. John said something and they all laughed as they followed him up the road. All kids who come here love John. He never had any kids of his own, but with all the kids who come to our resort, he has a very large extended family.
Customers needed a lot of little things today: info on jet skiing places (not here), towels, toilet plunging, to rent a boat, info on kayak outings tomorrow, and a new anchor. We rented out our boat but when they put the anchor down, the rope broke so we lost an anchor. I found them a new rope which wasn't even used yet, found them a used anchor and off they went again. Tomorrow John will try to snorkel to find the anchor, which was a large, nice one.
The mosquitoes are very bad because of all the rain we got the last 30 or so days. So everyone who steps outside has to spray deet on and everywhere you meet someone, you can smell their bug repellent.
I did some laundry, which has accumulated in the basement from yesterday. There's a huge pile of things to clean and put away. I got a good start on it today. I did two loads of just throw rugs and one of just rags. We cut up a lot of old towels and use them for cleaning rags on Saturdays. If I don't clean them right away, they really start to smell. I hung up the throw rugs on the basement clothes lines because throwing them in the dryer would ruin their rubber backing.
For a Sunday the telephone was ringing off the hook this morning. We didn't get any new bookings yet though.
John saw an osprey being chased by an eagle over the resort today. He said usually a person would think the osprey was a pretty large bird, but next to an eagle, it looks much smaller.
I served a lot of kiddy cocktails (not kitty as previously put), ice cream cones, root beer floats and sodas today. Its always fun to have a lot of kids on the lodge. They played foosball and tried to talk my ear off several times during the day.
One of the customers brought in their lap top and showed us their vacation pictures from Dominican Republic. That was really nice to see. We are always happy to see pictures of our customers/friends at somewhere else besides here. That helps us to get to know them better and have other conversation topics with them too.
That's another thing about running a resort that's very important - getting to know your customer. It was very difficult for me to not want to talk about myself all the time. I felt that the person I was talking to should know me a little in every conversation. Wrong! In this business, the person who is staying at our resort is the most important. I need to ask them all questions about themselves and their lives, how the last year has been, how their business and kids are, etc. I had to re-wire my brain to do this. Sometimes still, after 9 years, I catch myself talking a lot about me. Maybe it'll be a life long project for me, but other people would probably be fine with this right from the start. Regardless I am finding out that I am becoming a much better listener, am getting to know people much better and I feel much better in the long run about myself. Hopefully the customer will leave feeling better about talking with me too.
Owning a bar and resort means you cannot tell others about each other either. Its almost like being a psychiatrist, lawyer, best friend and sister all in one. Whatever you tell me stays with me because you are like family when you stay here.
Becoming a good friend with customers can also backfire on us though. We had some customers cancel last minute and it cost us $2100.00. Since we consider them a friend, we didn't pressure them to send in the full deposit we usually do. So when they cancelled their 3 cabins (family & their friends), we were out a lot of money. One of their friends called us to tell us they were very sorry when they cancelled too, and we could hear it in their voices, but that sure doesn't help our bottom line.
Whatever we make in the summer has to last us throughout the year. So taking such a huge hit means we have to eliminate something along the line. Do we stop providing a lot of things like paper products in the cabins so customers have to buy their own? Or do we stop providing something else for ourselves? I cannot imagine what that would be. John has been thinking along the same lines and so he made an appointment with a financial advisor this Wednesday. We need to know if we can refinance, if we don't have to worry, or if we should sell a cabin or 2 or what. Sometimes selfish people don't realize how they effect others, which is very sad. We are sure we will be fine, and don't worry about us, but we want to be proactive too. If we just sat on our hands and did nothing but watch the boulder roll down the hill at us, how stupid would that be? It'll hit a bump and go the other way, I'm sure.
John swam around the island again today. He has been doing that for exercise and therapy on his sore shoulders. He said since he has been swimming his shoulders have not been hurting as much and that the exercise feels great. I'm glad. Walking is more difficult for him than others because he has braces on his ankles and walks with canes/sticks. He fell when he was 21 and broke his back. When I say fell, I mean 150 feet and he's lucky to be alive. So swimming is great for him as exercise.
Tomorrow morning we will be taking a group kayaking up stream to a beaver dam, which is always pretty. Then tomorrow night is the weekly, Monday night, pot luck, which might not happen. We have a large group here this week and sometimes they don't do the pot luck. We'll find out tomorrow. I hope we still do pot luck. I love pot luck. Its a great way for everyone to meet who's here for the week and be social with each other. Sometimes customers just stay to themselves the entire week and not meet who's here so the pot luck was started as an ice breaker. I love to cook so this is always great fun for me to try new recipes too. If something I pick to cook isn't that great, at least I won't be eating it for a week. At pot luck almost everything goes that night. Fun!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Day 4 of 365 of What it is Like to Run a Resort
Hello all and thanks for all the positive feedback. I'm very glad you are enjoying my blog. Here's the first Saturday blog. Saturday is our change-over day. This means that people leave by 9:30 a.m. and the next group arrives around 3:00 p.m. In between those times we have to have the cabins emptied, cleaned and readied for the new group. This entails a lot of work. So I will try to describe what its like on a typical Saturday here at our resort.
At 7:22 a.m. we were woken up by someone pounding on our residence door, which is in the lodge. He wanted to pay for launching his boat. Our private boat launch is the only good boat ramp on the lake and we charge $10. He then asked if anyone was catching fish, etc. Here I stood in my red, fleece robe with black/white pandas on it, my hair all messed up and no shoes on, and he wants to ask what the fishing has been like... Couldn't he tell by the make-up under my eyes and my robe that I just got up? My look must have made an impression because he then apologized for waking me. So I took his money, told him what the latest fishing report was and then he left.
By 8:30 I was finished with my breakfast and had a good start on my caffeine intake. It was sunny and hot already so it was going to be a scorcher. I need a lot of caffeine on any given Saturday. After a few telephone calls later, I realized I would need a lot more. One of our cleaning girls wouldn't be coming because she hurt her ankle, another was going to the hospital, one had to work until midnight the night before so wouldn't be in, and two others I couldn't get ahold of on the phone. Out of 6 girls, I was down to only 2.
Usually I don't have to clean the cabins on Saturdays. I mostly strip the cabins of the old/dirty linens, turn off the refrigerators/freezers so they thaw for good cleaning, take out garbage, etc. This helps the cleaning crew a lot. John usually bails the boats, mows, empties the grills, makes repairs and garbage runs. But today I had to clean so it was a great thing that I had made 5 bags of clean linens, etc. for cabins the night before. So I had a jump start but I knew we were going to be running after the 3:00 p.m. (check-in) time before we would be finished cleaning.
Cleaning cabins entails wiping down all surfaces with a bleach solution, washing dishes and silverware, wiping out the refrigerator, coffee maker, microwave and stove with extreme solutions to disinfect and anti-bacterial all and every thing. Beds have to be remade, everything has to be dusted, windows have to be cleaned, wood floors swept and washed, well you get the drift. At the end we vacuum everything with a commercial (wonderful) vacuum, throw on new rugs and out we go to the next one.
John went ahead of us today and washed out some refrigerators so if the customers arrived early, they could at least put their groceries in a cold, clean refrigerator. My nephew, Tommy, helped by bailing out the boats, emptying the charcoal grills, mowing the 9 lawns and even stripping some of the cabins of dirty sheets. He was a Godsend. If it weren't for him, the lawns would be long, we would still be bailing boats, well you get the drift.
Thanks to Sophia and Monica, the only ladies who could clean with me today, we didn't have any problems and got done with the last cabin at 4:30 or so. Not bad. People were very patient and understanding when they found out that we only had 2 cleaning ladies here. The last 2 cabins were for people who had been here before and they especially didn't mind. They were just very happy to be back up north. Their put their food in their clean refrigerator and then headed down to the beach.
When we were finished, I paid the girls, thanked them a lot and as soon as I could, I jumped in the shower and John and Tommy jumped into the lake. I relaxed on the recliner to make sure my feet wouldn't fall off and that my back would relax back into line. Awhile later, I drove Tommy back home to Minocqua to my brother's. It felt really strange to be leaving the resort on a Saturday, no matter what time of the day, because we never do that.
I also made a stop at a department store to buy a new digital camera. Ours broke so that's why I haven't posted any pictures yet. Give me a little time and I'll have some on this blog. I got sand in my old camera and the lens wouldn't open any more. For awhile I could hear the sand grinding when the lens would open. I guess it finally gave up. Now I can put new pictures of caught fish on our Facebook page for our resort too. Customers will love that. I also picked up more window cleaner, dish soap, full size sheets, etc. When we go to a big city, we have to stock up on the necessary things. Since the nearest department store is 25 miles away, it is not convenient for us to just run to the store for electronics, sheets, etc. We hate to order stuff on line because then you pay for shipping and sometimes you don't get what you thought you ordered... So we make the most of those "city" trips.
So after I got back, there were people and kids in the lodge talking, yelling and laughing. The dogs were happy to see me, as usual, and I gave them a treat. Then I visited with our customers and had a few laughs.
I can hear the rain outside so that means no campfire tonight. Oh well, there's always tomorrow, day 5, Sunday.
At 7:22 a.m. we were woken up by someone pounding on our residence door, which is in the lodge. He wanted to pay for launching his boat. Our private boat launch is the only good boat ramp on the lake and we charge $10. He then asked if anyone was catching fish, etc. Here I stood in my red, fleece robe with black/white pandas on it, my hair all messed up and no shoes on, and he wants to ask what the fishing has been like... Couldn't he tell by the make-up under my eyes and my robe that I just got up? My look must have made an impression because he then apologized for waking me. So I took his money, told him what the latest fishing report was and then he left.
By 8:30 I was finished with my breakfast and had a good start on my caffeine intake. It was sunny and hot already so it was going to be a scorcher. I need a lot of caffeine on any given Saturday. After a few telephone calls later, I realized I would need a lot more. One of our cleaning girls wouldn't be coming because she hurt her ankle, another was going to the hospital, one had to work until midnight the night before so wouldn't be in, and two others I couldn't get ahold of on the phone. Out of 6 girls, I was down to only 2.
Usually I don't have to clean the cabins on Saturdays. I mostly strip the cabins of the old/dirty linens, turn off the refrigerators/freezers so they thaw for good cleaning, take out garbage, etc. This helps the cleaning crew a lot. John usually bails the boats, mows, empties the grills, makes repairs and garbage runs. But today I had to clean so it was a great thing that I had made 5 bags of clean linens, etc. for cabins the night before. So I had a jump start but I knew we were going to be running after the 3:00 p.m. (check-in) time before we would be finished cleaning.
Cleaning cabins entails wiping down all surfaces with a bleach solution, washing dishes and silverware, wiping out the refrigerator, coffee maker, microwave and stove with extreme solutions to disinfect and anti-bacterial all and every thing. Beds have to be remade, everything has to be dusted, windows have to be cleaned, wood floors swept and washed, well you get the drift. At the end we vacuum everything with a commercial (wonderful) vacuum, throw on new rugs and out we go to the next one.
John went ahead of us today and washed out some refrigerators so if the customers arrived early, they could at least put their groceries in a cold, clean refrigerator. My nephew, Tommy, helped by bailing out the boats, emptying the charcoal grills, mowing the 9 lawns and even stripping some of the cabins of dirty sheets. He was a Godsend. If it weren't for him, the lawns would be long, we would still be bailing boats, well you get the drift.
Thanks to Sophia and Monica, the only ladies who could clean with me today, we didn't have any problems and got done with the last cabin at 4:30 or so. Not bad. People were very patient and understanding when they found out that we only had 2 cleaning ladies here. The last 2 cabins were for people who had been here before and they especially didn't mind. They were just very happy to be back up north. Their put their food in their clean refrigerator and then headed down to the beach.
When we were finished, I paid the girls, thanked them a lot and as soon as I could, I jumped in the shower and John and Tommy jumped into the lake. I relaxed on the recliner to make sure my feet wouldn't fall off and that my back would relax back into line. Awhile later, I drove Tommy back home to Minocqua to my brother's. It felt really strange to be leaving the resort on a Saturday, no matter what time of the day, because we never do that.
I also made a stop at a department store to buy a new digital camera. Ours broke so that's why I haven't posted any pictures yet. Give me a little time and I'll have some on this blog. I got sand in my old camera and the lens wouldn't open any more. For awhile I could hear the sand grinding when the lens would open. I guess it finally gave up. Now I can put new pictures of caught fish on our Facebook page for our resort too. Customers will love that. I also picked up more window cleaner, dish soap, full size sheets, etc. When we go to a big city, we have to stock up on the necessary things. Since the nearest department store is 25 miles away, it is not convenient for us to just run to the store for electronics, sheets, etc. We hate to order stuff on line because then you pay for shipping and sometimes you don't get what you thought you ordered... So we make the most of those "city" trips.
So after I got back, there were people and kids in the lodge talking, yelling and laughing. The dogs were happy to see me, as usual, and I gave them a treat. Then I visited with our customers and had a few laughs.
I can hear the rain outside so that means no campfire tonight. Oh well, there's always tomorrow, day 5, Sunday.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Day 3 of what it is like to run a resort
This morning, Friday, it was 8:00 before I stepped outside and the only sound was a warbler in the trees. Sunshine was everywhere.
Today the telephone company should be by to fix our internet problem. He was here by 9 a.m. It turns out the old wiring in our lodge/home is interfering with our Wi-Fi signal and our internet signal. So he had to drill another hole in our house. We hate having another possible entry for critters and bugs! But now we will try this until Monday to see if it works.
I initially had put on jeans but its already 82 degrees at 11 a.m. so I changed into shorts. It was 60 when I woke up.
Later in the morning I talked with some customers about their parents, homes and families. Mostly, the customers came into the lodge today to talk. Two of our cabins will not be returning next year. Their bar/restaurant burnt down this spring so they don't know where they will be or if they can take a vacation next year. So now we have 2 openings this week for next year already. We will miss their group because they have a lot of kids and its always fun to have kids around here. Hopefully they'll be back
I got some good news from the Chamber today. They will not be raising the fee for us and others who have hotel/motel/resort status. They said, "You have been heard". I guess my e-mail to them helped. Good. We need every penny.
I went to the Town offices today to talk to the Clerk in detail about some questions I had. She was very helpful. It turns out that the town will be, in 2011, burying all the overhead power lines and putting in new sidewalks, new light poles and planters, etc. on the main streets. That will be really nice and should help our downtown. Hopefully this will bring in more people too, which we all could use. Since resorts are a dying breed, any help we can get is great.
Tommy, my nephew, and my husband, John, decided to drive up to see some waterfalls and do some hiking. Our customers have seen all the waterfalls around here and weren't interested in going. We have taken them to all the waterfalls in years previous. I stayed back to do some computer work, laundry and be here for the customers. They didn't need me though and it was a boring afternoon. I only had to make one root beer float and 2 kitty cocktails.
Tonight I had to prepare for tomorrow. I took out clean laundry and put it in bags, labeled them for the individual cabins, and started 2 loads of laundry for tomorrow too. I have two lines in the basement where I hang the kitchen throw rugs and the bathroom rugs, which have to have a rubber backing. I can't put them in the dryer because the rubber disintegrates very soon after, and that's a waste of our money. Especially when we have to have at least 19 in stock for a week's changeover. Since we have 9 cabins and 10 bathrooms, and each has a bathroom rug, that means 10 are in the cabins, and 10 need to be ready for the bags. We have large, white, cloth bags with a drawstring top. Very handy.
We have 31 beds and some are queens, doubles and twins. So we have big shelves, 4X8, in our basement full of sheets and pillow cases. We wash the rugs, kitchen towels/cloths, blankets and comforters. The sheets we send out to a laundry service in a huge, yellow, wheeled cart. They pick up here every other week. As long as our laundry is over 100 lbs, we get a volume discount. We have never gone under that minimum.
We bought all new mattresses in 2005 so we put top quality mattress pads on every one. They have to be waterproof in this business, for obvious reasons. They weren't cheap, but clean up very nice whenever there's a stain. That's a must. The Health Department says there cannot be ONE stain on anything, unless its a bleach stain. Yikes.
So I made bags for 5 cabins to prepare for tomorrow. That's a good head start. Saturday is our big day. We have cleaning girls arriving by 9 a.m. and we have to clean all 9 cabins before check-in at 3:00 p.m.
Almost all the customers waited until today, the last day, to pay. So now we don't have to worry about them needing to check out tomorrow when we will be so busy. Now they can just wave as they leave. I put the money in our locked safe. We've never had a problem keeping the money in a safe, which is VERY good. Previous owners have been robbed because they didn't have a safe. We hope that no one ever attempts to rob us. We can't afford for that to happen.
Now its time to relax. Even though we will keep the bar open until 10:30 p.m., our usual time to close if no one is in the bar, people usually don't come in on Friday night because they know they have to get up early. Tomorrow they have to leave by 9:30 a.m. and they have been busy pulling out their boats, packing and getting ready too. Good night. Wish me luck tomorrow.
Today the telephone company should be by to fix our internet problem. He was here by 9 a.m. It turns out the old wiring in our lodge/home is interfering with our Wi-Fi signal and our internet signal. So he had to drill another hole in our house. We hate having another possible entry for critters and bugs! But now we will try this until Monday to see if it works.
I initially had put on jeans but its already 82 degrees at 11 a.m. so I changed into shorts. It was 60 when I woke up.
Later in the morning I talked with some customers about their parents, homes and families. Mostly, the customers came into the lodge today to talk. Two of our cabins will not be returning next year. Their bar/restaurant burnt down this spring so they don't know where they will be or if they can take a vacation next year. So now we have 2 openings this week for next year already. We will miss their group because they have a lot of kids and its always fun to have kids around here. Hopefully they'll be back
I got some good news from the Chamber today. They will not be raising the fee for us and others who have hotel/motel/resort status. They said, "You have been heard". I guess my e-mail to them helped. Good. We need every penny.
I went to the Town offices today to talk to the Clerk in detail about some questions I had. She was very helpful. It turns out that the town will be, in 2011, burying all the overhead power lines and putting in new sidewalks, new light poles and planters, etc. on the main streets. That will be really nice and should help our downtown. Hopefully this will bring in more people too, which we all could use. Since resorts are a dying breed, any help we can get is great.
Tommy, my nephew, and my husband, John, decided to drive up to see some waterfalls and do some hiking. Our customers have seen all the waterfalls around here and weren't interested in going. We have taken them to all the waterfalls in years previous. I stayed back to do some computer work, laundry and be here for the customers. They didn't need me though and it was a boring afternoon. I only had to make one root beer float and 2 kitty cocktails.
Tonight I had to prepare for tomorrow. I took out clean laundry and put it in bags, labeled them for the individual cabins, and started 2 loads of laundry for tomorrow too. I have two lines in the basement where I hang the kitchen throw rugs and the bathroom rugs, which have to have a rubber backing. I can't put them in the dryer because the rubber disintegrates very soon after, and that's a waste of our money. Especially when we have to have at least 19 in stock for a week's changeover. Since we have 9 cabins and 10 bathrooms, and each has a bathroom rug, that means 10 are in the cabins, and 10 need to be ready for the bags. We have large, white, cloth bags with a drawstring top. Very handy.
We have 31 beds and some are queens, doubles and twins. So we have big shelves, 4X8, in our basement full of sheets and pillow cases. We wash the rugs, kitchen towels/cloths, blankets and comforters. The sheets we send out to a laundry service in a huge, yellow, wheeled cart. They pick up here every other week. As long as our laundry is over 100 lbs, we get a volume discount. We have never gone under that minimum.
We bought all new mattresses in 2005 so we put top quality mattress pads on every one. They have to be waterproof in this business, for obvious reasons. They weren't cheap, but clean up very nice whenever there's a stain. That's a must. The Health Department says there cannot be ONE stain on anything, unless its a bleach stain. Yikes.
So I made bags for 5 cabins to prepare for tomorrow. That's a good head start. Saturday is our big day. We have cleaning girls arriving by 9 a.m. and we have to clean all 9 cabins before check-in at 3:00 p.m.
Almost all the customers waited until today, the last day, to pay. So now we don't have to worry about them needing to check out tomorrow when we will be so busy. Now they can just wave as they leave. I put the money in our locked safe. We've never had a problem keeping the money in a safe, which is VERY good. Previous owners have been robbed because they didn't have a safe. We hope that no one ever attempts to rob us. We can't afford for that to happen.
Now its time to relax. Even though we will keep the bar open until 10:30 p.m., our usual time to close if no one is in the bar, people usually don't come in on Friday night because they know they have to get up early. Tomorrow they have to leave by 9:30 a.m. and they have been busy pulling out their boats, packing and getting ready too. Good night. Wish me luck tomorrow.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Day 2 of 365 of what its like to run a resort
Today I woke to beautiful sunshine. It was chilly though as I stepped out onto the front deck to see if anyone else was awake. One cabin had laughter and the familiar noises of dishes rattling and water running. So I wasn't the only one up at 8:00 a.m.
Yesterday there had been talk of doing either a kayak outing or a waterfall hike. So I wondered what the weather would be like because that would determine what we would be doing. So I turned on the computer only to find we had no internet again. No weather.com, no on-line chatting, no Wi-Fi. Yikes. I called and left a message at our local internet provider and told him it was off-line again. He had been at our resort just the day before to try to fix the problem. Apparently it didn't work.
After breakfast some people came into the lodge and we talked about all the options. Mostly they were just content to stick around the resort today. After yesterday's storms, the sunshine was a welcome sight and they wanted to take advantage of it by hanging out on the beach or kayaking right from our shore. I can't blame them.
Yesterday we ran out of ice cream for root beer floats. So job one was to go to the store. My nephew, Tommy, who is staying with us this week, hadn't been to the Wampum shop yet this year. We make that stop a tradition every time he visits. So I asked if he wanted to go to the Wampum shop and he said yes. It's a tourist shop with a lot of nice and/or fun things for sale. He can always find something. Usually I will buy something too. So we went.
I drove to the Senior Center first to drop off their curtains. We send laundry out bulk every other week. Bulk meaning over 100 lbs. of it. So the Lioness Club asked if we would send the Senior Center's curtains along and that they would pay for them later. Now that they are done, I had to drop them off and did. Then we went to the Wampum. We take other people there too so they recognized me. That's part of the small town feeling - when people know you by sight but not necessarily by name.
We think we have the largest resort in Mercer now since so many of them have been sold off as condos. We have 9 cabins and our resort was established in 1938. In a way that makes me feel special but at the same time it is a little scary. We don't want to see the other resorts closing, even though that means less competition. Fewer resorts also means fewer tourists in town, which is detrimental to the downtown. In the long run, if something isn't done to help the resorts, like tax breaks, etc., we might all be gone. Then what will happen to our small towns? We often wonder.
We picked up the ice cream, drove home, put it away and then headed down to the beach. There were quite a few people down there and it is important to visit with customers as much as I can. So if I have to sit down at the beach and talk, oh my, I guess I will. I spoke with some customers for awhile and then John, my husband, drove our ATV over to the campfire area. He was doing a recycling run. He emptied out the garbage bins while he was at it too. Somehow that job has become exclusively his. But before he left, he saw me on the beach and came over to visit too. We watched some kids throw a ball out in the water for their golden retriever. Then the 3 kids all took to one of our white sail boards and the oldest paddled them around the swimming area with a kayak paddle. It was really cute how the smallest boy kept saying good-bye to his mommy on each pass.
Eventually people started leaving for one reason or another and we headed up too.
Earlier some of our customers took out kayaks so I helped them get launched from the beach. They were going to go down stream. About one and a half hours later they called from their cell phone and asked that I pick them up. So I started up the old, 1983, Toyota LandCruiser, which pulls an old, rusted kayak trailer. It is a standard transmission with a pull choke and it reminds me of the truck I learned to drive when I was 16. I drove the rattle trap down our road, found our customers about a mile away, loaded up two kayaks with straps and bungies, and drove them back to the resort, rattling all the way. They had enjoyed their kayak outing and I was glad. They even said the bugs weren't bad at all - a big plus.
A little while after we got back, Kendrick, a young customer, caught a 32 and 1/2 inch muskie. His first big musky. He even got a puncture in his thumb from the thing's huge teeth. His grin was about a mile wide as he put on the band-aid I gave him. Hopefully I'll have a copy of their digital picture sent to me via e-mail so I can post it on our resort's web site. We have a cork board by the entrance that has a lot of pictures of big fish that were caught here. We'll put a copy of Kendrick and his muskie up there too. I made the board out of an old picture frame and acoustic ceiling tile. It was cheaper than buying a cork board.
Another couple kayaked up stream from our resort and they had to turn around when they encountered a new beaver dam. They tried to portage over it but couldn't do it. So they turned around. On the way, an eagle flew right over them and disappeared behind some trees. They said it was magnificent.
After I made dinner I went to the Town Board meeting. Its good to keep up with what's going on in town, and maybe I'll even submit an article to a local newspaper, "FYI Northwoods" about what went on at the meeting. They said they needed someone in Mercer to write articles so maybe it'll be me. I love writing... Can you tell?
After I got back around 8:15 p.m., the internet wasn't working again until 10:40 p.m. So I'm sorry this blog is so late but I couldn't help it. Tomorrow they will solve our internet problem or else.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Day 1 of 365 on what its like to run a resort
Woke early, around 7 a.m. Wondered if we had caught the problem bear in the bear cage. Animal control had dropped off the cage last Monday. So I threw on a shirt on top of my pj's and walked up the hill to the dumpster area. Yippee! We caught a 200 lb. male bear. So I told all who were awake, and people flocked up to see the bear. It growled, spit and then decided to lie down in defeat.
I took our golden retriever, Senna, up to see it. She was VERY interested but the bear initially didn't care less. Later it tried to get her through the steel cage, which scared Senna enough to stay away.
The garbage truck would be coming soon. So I told my husband, John, that I saw someone in the fish cleaning house. That would mean there would be fresh fish guts. Gotta get those before the garbage truck comes. He was right on it.
I finally sat down to breakfast and caffeine. I turned on the news and we were going to be in for major storms, so I tried to call my mom. She was intending to drive the 60 miles to our resort to visit today and I didn't want her to come if the weather would be bad. Turns out she had already left.
Mom arrived with 2.5 doz. eggs from her farm and fresh fruit and pound cake from the store for our dessert. We walked up and looked at the bear just when the guy was coming to pick it up. It growled and spit on me. Guess I was standing too close.
Some fishermen came in and told me that when they were fishing this morning, a perch swallowed a hook. Since it wasn't a keeper, they threw it into the lake. About 10 minutes later, a huge eagle swooped down and picked it out of the water. This was only about 30 feet from them! What a sight! Later they said it flew over their heads about 10 feet from them. They hadn't realized how big eagles were until this happened. Thankfully it didn't poop on them or they would've seen how big that would've been too.
Customers came in for weather updates, ice cream cones, etc. I made lunch - fried chicken breast with mushrooms, peppers, onions & tomatoes. I added basil, parmesan and olive oil, threw in some penne and it was lunch. Had fresh fruit & shortcake with whipped cream for dessert.
Just when John was napping, and my mom and I were talking, someone came into the lodge who we hadn't seen in awhile. So we visited.
The storm was raging outside so kids were coming into the lodge for free foosball, to play games and visit.
John and my nephew, Tommy, played kings in the corner card game. Then they started cribbage. Mom and I visited and watched the lightning over the 354 acre lake. She had wanted to leave an hour ago, but was waiting out the storm. Finally the storm died down enough for her to head home around 4:30.
Now its time for me to finally sit down and start my blog - which I obviously have. Hopefully you'll like it.
Later I go to Lioness Bingo. I'll be selling the cards tonight. So I have to make dinner before I leave for John & Tommy. Hopefully some customers will be at bingo tonight.
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