Our friends, Pat and Leroy, who we met at Kamaole Sands a
few years ago, invited us to do something completely different with our summer
this year. They own a campground, Westbay Beach Resort, in
Westbank, across Lake Okanagan from the town of Kelowna in British
Columbia. They wanted us to work for
them for the summer at their campground.
It’s called work-camping. They
said they would provide us a place to stay and pay us a small wage. There was a lot to work out, such as what to
do with the dogs for the whole summer.
Kathy and Rommie came through, as always, and we decided that we were up
for the adventure. So, here we are.
Monday - June 30
Monday - June 30
Oh my gosh! What have we gotten ourselves into? On the way here, we stopped in McCall, Idaho for two days to visit with Sherry and Ennio, who own next door to us in Kihei. We had such a fun time visiting with them in their lovely home. We even went geocaching in mosquito infested woods and climbed the face of steep cliffs. We hated to leave, but we had to get on our way to get to the camp in time for the opening of the season. We had planned to leave there early on Wednesday, but we ended up staying until after noon, so we could go to Payette Lake with them to do some geo-caching. Bill got his first owie of the summer when he and Ennio climbed a sheer rock wall to get to one of the treasures. He ripped open his knee when he fell. He also got a bad cut on the top of his head, but despite those boo boos, we enjoyed our visit with them.
We got to Westbank on Thursday, and started our training on Friday. Since then it has been non-stop work and yesterday the temperature here was 103 degrees at 6:00 pm. The stupid sun starts coming up at 4:30 and doesn't go away completely until after 10:30. We sat outside reading last night until almost 10:00 without turning on a light. The lake is beautiful, but I don't know if I want to swim in it, because the geese poop has some kind of parasite which causes an itchy rash that some people get and some people don't.
Pat and Leroy, who own the campground, are so nice. They provided us with a brand new, 23 foot
trailer and they furnished it with luxury towels, really nice chairs with
ottomans for us to sit on outside and a truly comfy bed but we wish we had
recliners so we could put our aching feet up at the end of the day.
Among our duties are cleaning and working with the guests. They want things done in a certain way, and we’re trying to do everything perfectly. We have schedules to follow, so that will help us to remember where to go and what to do at what time. Saturday is check-in day, and we worked from 6:30am to almost 4:30pm that day. We are only supposed to work 25 to 30 hours a week, and we've already worked 25 hours in three days. We're exhausted already, but we hope we will get used to the pace. Today, our work day started at 6:30, when I opened the gates and we did a quick washroom check. Then Bill raked the beach and cleaned the fire-pits. I came "home" and had breakfast and checked emails, and then at 9 I started going around visiting the campers to rebook them for next year. I also worked in the store for a little while.
Bill did yard work and took care of the re-cycling (of which there is a tremendous amount as they re-cycle everything in Canada.) We did a deep clean of the bathrooms and our main work day ended at 2:45. At 4:30 we will do a bathroom quick clean, and again at 8:30. Tomorrow is our first day off, and we hope to do nothing all day.
Among our duties are cleaning and working with the guests. They want things done in a certain way, and we’re trying to do everything perfectly. We have schedules to follow, so that will help us to remember where to go and what to do at what time. Saturday is check-in day, and we worked from 6:30am to almost 4:30pm that day. We are only supposed to work 25 to 30 hours a week, and we've already worked 25 hours in three days. We're exhausted already, but we hope we will get used to the pace. Today, our work day started at 6:30, when I opened the gates and we did a quick washroom check. Then Bill raked the beach and cleaned the fire-pits. I came "home" and had breakfast and checked emails, and then at 9 I started going around visiting the campers to rebook them for next year. I also worked in the store for a little while.
Bill did yard work and took care of the re-cycling (of which there is a tremendous amount as they re-cycle everything in Canada.) We did a deep clean of the bathrooms and our main work day ended at 2:45. At 4:30 we will do a bathroom quick clean, and again at 8:30. Tomorrow is our first day off, and we hope to do nothing all day.
Wednesday - July 2
We have been invited to go to the family cottage on our days off. We decided to run over on Tuesday to see what it was like, even though Tuesday and Wednesdays are Pat and Leroy’s nights to go there. It is about an hour away from the campground. The cottage turned out to be a gorgeous house right on the shore of Lake Okanagan in Lake Country. We had one small problem, though. Yesterday morning, Pat came over to our trailer to give us directions to get there, along with how to disarm the alarm system. We arrived at the cottage about 12:00, after dawdling our way there via every fruit stand we came to. Unfortunately, there are no wineries on the way there, so we will save the wine tasting for another day, because there are several of them within a 10 mile radius of the campground.
Anyway, we got there, opened the garage door with the code, and walked over to the door, at which time I remembered that Pat hadn't given us the key. We were only 40 minutes away from the campground, but with gas at over $5.60 per gallon (yes, you read that right if I have converted it correctly - 1.42 per liter comes out to over $5.60!!!) Anyway, again, we decided that we would just drive back and go to the cottage another day. But then I thought that they must have a key hidden somewhere so I took out the phone, only to find out that the phone number for the campground wasn't programmed into it. Meanwhile, Bill opened the side garage door to look out (he could have seen the same thing by walking out the big door and peeking around the corner), breaking the circuit and causing the alarm to go off.
Sooo, while I was looking for the number to call Pat, suddenly a blaring "beeep, beeep, beeep" began. I was confused at first and then realized it was the alarm. So there we are, expecting the gendarmes at any moment to haul away two foreigners who are breaking into a house, trying to find the number to call to see if there is a spare key. And now we really have to do something. We thought about hopping in the car and getting out of there, but that just wasn’t a good idea. Finally, I remembered that I had the number in the car, so we called and got voice mail. My message was, "Hi, this is Billie. We made it to the cottage. Don't worry about the noise, that's just your alarm. Please call me back before the police get here, to tell me that you do have a key hidden somewhere”. Pat called within a minute, laughing her head off. She told Bill where to find the key. Meanwhile, the alarm had stopped, but we figured the cops were still on their way. She said that it was a good test of the alarm system, and that the company had already called Leroy to find out if everything was okay and he said that we were authorized to be there.
We toured the cottage and decided that we could comfortably fit our house in there about 4 times. Pat and LeRoy are so thoughtful, leaving the refrigerator fully stocked, so all we have to do is bring our main food and use the eggs, produce, milk and condiments they have. We made lunch with the cold cuts we had picked up at Safeway in Kelowna and we ate at the table overlooking the lake. There is a rocky beach and we didn't want to go in the water, cause it’s quite cold and we just aren’t ready to mingle with all that goose poop, so we sat on the dock and read for an hour, until it got too hot, and then we went inside and took a nap after which we read, slept and watched Dr. Phil, and the Canadian comedy channel.
Pat called while we were watching The Daily Show and said they would be there around 5 and they were bringing dinner! They came in with steaks, salad, potatoes, fresh strawberries with whipped cream and big, fresh, soft oatmeal cookies. Oh, and two bottles of white wine! We sat and visited on the porch until 9:20 and got back here before it was fully dark.
They will be back here tomorrow morning, and we will probably go to the cottage tomorrow evening and spend the night, as Friday is our other day off and we loved spending the day in such luxury. If we can maneuver the kayaks out of the garage, we might even go for a spin on the lake.
Friday – July 4
We spent last night in the cottage and I haven’t slept so well in a long time. The quiet was amazing and the stars were huge in all that darkness. When we got there, Bill started the barbeque immediately because there was a lightning storm going on and we wanted to get the burgers done before the rain came. After a few minutes, he started out the door to turn them when there was a flash, along with a craaackkk/boom. He jumped backwards out of his shoes, back into the house. I swear, he turned white. I told him to let the burgers burn, and we’d have soup, but he bravely went out to turn them, and a few minutes later, he brought them in. We ate inside, instead of out on the deck, because we didn’t want to give the lightning another shot at him and, besides, the wind was blowing the rain onto the table and chairs. After dinner, we sat on the couch, facing the large window and watched the lightning strike the mountain across the lake. We even saw a fire start, but the rain must have put it out, because before we could figure out if they have 911 up here, the smoke started smoldering, and then was gone.
We had no more excitement until we were on the way home. We’ve recently gotten into geocaching, and we had the coordinates for a cache along the road near Vernon. We had gotten out of the car and zeroed in on a tree. Bill had just taken a step into the low branches, when a snake reared up and looked at his bare leg. This time he didn’t jump out of his shoes, but he did back out fast, and we decided we really didn’t need to find that cache after all.
Back at camp, we found some patriotic music on the computer and we ate dinner with that playing on the picnic table, but we were a bit disappointed that they didn’t have any fireworks for us. There are so few United Statesians here, although the people who were staying in the next campsite were from Nevada.
Sunday - July 6
We went back to the cottage after a busy Saturday. We had traded days off with Abbey and Ryan (son and daughter-in-law of Pat and Leroy), so they can go somewhere next Friday. If we hadn’t come here last night and today, we wouldn’t have been able to come back until the following Thursday night. It was really good to work on the busiest day of the week and then pack up and drive to the cottage for some real relax time. I’ll describe what Saturdays are like another time.
Monday - July 7
Today was an easy day, working in the store for me, and grounds for Bill. We will have our regular day off tomorrow (Tuesday) and then not another one until next Tuesday. We plan to do some caching and wine tasting.
Thursday - July 10
You’d think that on our day off (Tuesday), knowing that we won’t have another one until next Tuesday, we’d sit around and relax all day. Well, you’d be wrong! We started out by driving about ¼ mile away, getting out of the car, and looking for a cache that ended up being on top of the “hill” (I want to call it a mountain, but I’m sure it isn’t an official mountain – how high does a hill have to be to be called a mountain, anyway?) So, because of my knees, I went part of the way, but I didn’t want to climb very high, so Bill said for me to wait near the bottom and he would forge ahead to find the treasure, keeping in touch by phone. After his adventure with the snake last week, I’m impressed that he’s willing to tromp through all that brush and rocks. I watched for a while, but soon he was out of sight, so I climbed down from my spot and went back across the street to the car where I could get a better perspective. I spotted him, about halfway up the hill. The hill wasn’t extremely steep but it was rocky, so the climbing wasn’t ultra difficult, but he was getting awfully high and far away. I could only see him because he was wearing a bright blue shirt.
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| Bill is in the circle, while I waited at the bottom of the hill |
When he got to the top, I called him on the phone and told him that I could see the top of the bell tower from Mission Winery, and that I thought I could drive up there to get him so he wouldn’t have to climb back down. He agreed to that, so I started driving, while he continued looking for the cache, which he quickly found. If we had only started at the top in the first place, he could have found it in 5 minutes, but what fun would that have been? He walked along the winery fence until he found the road, hopped into the car, and we were on to further caching.
Bill had one more arduous climb down to the lake from an upper trail, again due to us starting at the wrong spot. I waited on a bench above while he searched, and after a half hour, he called me to say that he was at the shoreline and had found the cache, so I was able to drive down to the bottom to pick him up. I think I’m getting the best of this deal, but he is getting lots of exercise. We decided we have to start trusting the cache instructions less and our instincts more. Since we were only a three minute drive from home, we went back to clean our feet and change our shoes. Bills socks were a lost cause, being full of burrs and stickers. I tried to clean them, but ended up throwing them away.
Our next find was another local winery. We planned to do some tasting and hoped to find a couple of wines to buy. Well, for the price of the tasting, I wanted them to throw in a five course dinner. Mission Winery charges $42.00 per person to have a winery tour and to taste a few wines!!
Mission Winery overlook with the camp in background.
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| Mission Winery |
We ate lunch out and got home around 4:00, so the rest of the day was spent being lazy (or, in other words, resting up for the next day’s work.)
Friday - July 11
We had a doozy of a storm yesterday afternoon. As we were heading over to clean the washrooms, the wind which had been blowing all day, suddenly went crazy and the rain fell in buckets. We watched from the safety of the doorway of the ladies room as limbs started falling off trees and awnings broke off trailers and motor homes. There was even a water spout on the lake that we were able to see from our vantage point. We later found out that 18 out of 20 boats at the Kelowna Marina were heavily damaged and there was wind damage for miles around. After the storm passed, we slipped into town, intending to go to an auction, and passed a spot where the firemen were just mopping up from a brush fire on the side of Mt. Boucherie.
The weather today is back to normal, hot with a hint of breeze and we have been cleaning up the debris all over the campground all morning.
I only worked for three hours, because I have to work in the store from 3 to 9 tonight, and I wanted to have some down time before that. Bill just left after coming home to have a bite of lunch, and I’ll meet him at the washrooms at 1:00, as it is Abby and Ryan’s cleaning day and we are being them today.
Monday - July 14
We got through another Saturday. Wow! Is it busy around here on Saturdays. Over 40 camp sites emptied, got mowed, watered and ready for check in, and 47 campers came to fill those spots as well as seven of the Field, or overflow spots. I had the easiest jobs. As people in five of the rental trailers got ready to leave, I went around and had them hand me their mattress pads to put in the “dirty pads” bag and I gave them the clean pads to set on their tables, so the cleaning lady could put them on after she vacuumed the beds. Pat has me preparing lunch in her kitchen for all of us. She buys cold cuts, fresh fruit, etc. so I made a huge fruit salad and sandwiches. I wrapped them and put them in the refrigerator and everyone came in when they had time and took a sandwich and a dish of salad and sat in the shade for a quick break. While I was cutting up all the fruit and getting the sandwiches ready, I started washing the mattress pads. Bill cleaned the beach and grounds and as people started leaving, he washed the outside of the rental trailers. Pat has hired two young men to mow the lawns, so that’s one job Bill doesn’t have to help with. We did the washroom clean at 1:30, and our day was over at 3:00. We had a relaxing evening, and got to meet some of our new neighbors. Most of the campers are very nice to us, thanking us for keeping the washrooms so clean.
On Sunday, Bill did his usual beach cleaning and grounds work and I didn’t start work until 3:00. I worked in the store until 9:00. That’s really pretty fun, as I mostly sell candy and ice cream to the kids. Pat said that I could read when it isn’t busy, but there are other things to do besides sell things. The shelves need to be kept straightened and clean. The refrigerator items are lined up neatly, so when something sells, we pull the next one forward so it can be seen. When the soda lines get a little low, we restock them. The outside always needs to be swept and so does the laundry room. I clean the counters every time I’m in the store. Bill brought me barbequed steak, oven fried potatoes, and broccoli at 7:00 and we ate dinner together in the store.
Today was busy and went fast and we were off at 3:00. We’re off tomorrow and looking forward to a quiet day.
Next post on Part Two
