Monday, September 2, 2013

Workcamping Gets Busy!

Today is the three week anniversary of our Workcamping debut.  In my last blog I explained our situation here at Tollbridge County Park.  This is a one hundred acre park with 87 campsites in 4 “loop” areas.  When we arrived on August 11 we joined Craig and Linda, who had been the only hosts on duty for several months.  After a two and a half weeks of transition training, Craig and Linda departed last Friday.  So Rosie and I handled the three day Labor Day weekend as the only hosts in the Park.  It is now Monday and the Park is almost deserted.  I think we managed very well considering our limited experience in this line of work.

We have been familiarizing ourselves with the local area businesses.  We found a medical clinic where we can have our blood work done.  We found a hair salon that serves both our our hair dressing needs.  The local library in Parkdale gave us free library cards so we have ample reading material available for our “slower” times here in the park.  Hood River County allowed us to have our bulk mail sent here every two weeks.  When you add that to the AT&T MiFi we purchased for internet access, we are in good shape.  We are getting accustomed to life without television.  We get our news online on my tablet and stay connected with family and friends on Facebook.

We have met many nice, fun and interesting people.  A young man from Belgium rode in on a bicycle looking for a tent site.  He is riding a bike from Seattle to San Francisco.  We have had several other European campers and several from Canada, but the majority of our campers are from Oregon.  Many families with young kids and puppies.  Rosie really enjoys the interaction with the campers, who know her as the “Wood Lady”.  She is a natural salesperson.  I am handling the front of the operation helping campers find sites, collecting fees and generally being helpful.

Here are some pictures taken since my last blog:

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Mount Hood often has a cloud cover.

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Parkdale downtown is 2 blocks long.  Here is the view looking east.

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Here is the view of downtown looking west.

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This is the public day use area of the park.

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The east fork of the Hood River as it goes through the park.

It is September and fall is in the air.  Some of the leaves are starting to change color.  The fall colors will be fantastic here in a few weeks.  We may get some family and friends visiting us.  One of my brothers and his wife plan to swing by here on their way home from California to South Dakota.  One of our friends from Germany (a couple) are going to be touring the Pacific Northwest and they plan to come by. 

Here are the numbers for July:

Camping – $198.50 ($6.61per night – we get a free site for camp hosting)

Diesel Fuel when pulling – $282.00

Truck Service/Repairs – $0.00

RV  Repairs/Service – $356.38 (two new tires after tire blowout).

Generator Gas/Propane - $20.93

Metered Electricity – $0.00

Satellite TV/Radio – $81.65

Campground Pet Fees – $0.00

Laundry – $20.00

Total = $959.46

Thanks for stopping by.

5 comments:

Betty Graffis said...

We live in Milwaukie and have been to Parkdale many times. But I didn't realize there was a county Park there for camping. Are there any hookups? If so, what is the cost per night?

Jim Sathe said...

Hi Betty,

Full hookups are $22 per night. Water and Electric (no sewer) are $20 per night. Weekends are busy. Weekdays are very light.

Hollis Henry said...

Sounds perfect for you two! Glad you're enjoying your time there and saving a little $$ too. Cheers!

owensontheroad said...

Looks like a lovely park. Nice to have that workamping job to enjoy the area.

Alpenliter said...

Glad all is going well. Sorry to hear you were left in the lurch for the holiday weekend though. At the park we are at in Montana, it was mostly deserted. I do love Montana!