To day is October the 14th, closing day at LHR (Lake Huron Resort) and I kind of have mixed feelings, as I look back to April, it seemed like such a daunting job Miss Laurie had signed us up for. But now it doesn’t seem like it has been that long, it has been a busy season, but one with very few issues, and everyone has made us feel welcome and many have stopped to thank us for our help. I personally think that everyone had some anxiety over new managers, I know we had some over meeting everyone and what expectations they would have of us as the new managers. But with a very few exceptions, it has been a very welcoming group, and over all there have been very few concerns that we have had to deal with.

As we watch the last few guests leave, the park has changed from the happily little pieces of paradise that everyone created, to a sea of different coloured tarps, each one housing a guests little piece of paradise, carefully bundled up till next spring when it will emerge and come back to life. There are a couple of trailers being removed today, to be taken away for winter storage, some will return as larger, newer, shinny trailers in the spring, but most are being winterized and closed up for the winter, the slides all pulled in, all the cords and hoses disconnected and stowed away. The smell of Bounce dryer sheets and Irish Spring soap hang in the air with the occasional whiff of cloves, as these are the tried and true rodent deterrents that are used when closing the trailers for the season.

For us it is like the end of a very long work week, it’s like you can see the weekend, and all we have to do is tidy up our work space to be able to hit the time clock and punch out for the season. Miss Laurie is starting to scout out spots to see, things to do, and make plan for visits with family and friends as we start the next leg of this adventure. We have not planned any winter jobs, we are just going to be on vacation, a kicked back, book reading, rock painting, cocktail enjoying, do nothing if you want, kind of vacation!

As it appears we are running ahead of schedule in winterizing, and putting the park to bed for the winter, so now I will try to move up a couple of doctor appointments so that we will be clear to head south a little earlier if we want, we both need new glasses so we are hoping to bounce that one up a few days to have time to get our new glass prescriptions filled. This is our Canadian Thanksgiving weekend so a number of guests left yesterday, to be able to attend dinners with family, and I know especially this year we are missing our time with Shelly and Robert, who are going through a tough time with the sudden passing of Shelly’s mother last week, our thoughts and prayers are with them even if we are not.

This will be the last honey wagon run for 2019! Not a task I will really miss but it wasn’t that bad, and as stupid as it may sound, I will kind of miss the time with Richard, abusing each other for being too slow or just getting to know each other better. I mean seriously there is nothing like being on the end of a sewer hose to bring out those revealing traits of ones character, a plugged hose to check ones tolerance, and a good whiff occasionally to check out ones mental stamina, it’s like any job, it is as good or as bad as you make it. We have to dump every seven to ten days on average with our coach so if you travel in an RV it just becomes part of every day life, not a good part or a bad part, just a part that has to be done, and if you want pressure try pulling into a dump station line at Quartzsite with ten rigs behind you, all wishing you would hurry up, now that’s pressure…lol

This was to be a co-management position working with another couple to operate the resort while the owners were busy with a new park that they have purchased.

As it turned out the second couple bailed on the owners, leaving us as the only work campers for the season, now to be honest this was our first work camping position so our expectations were all over the map, when we took the position it was more than we had been looking for to start, but looked like a great opportunity to get some serious management experience not just some glad handing position as a camp host.

So let’s get to the numbers of it first, this is a six month position, it starts two weeks before the resort opens and runs through for two weeks after it closes. The remuneration is as follows:

1. A site for the season with full 30amp hook ups (we are on a double site)

2. Internet access (unlimited great bandwidth for streaming)

3. Passes for family and friends who visit

4. Use of all resort amenities

5. $2000 per month (paid by cheque on the tenth of the following month)

What does the job curtail? The list is long because we are the managers, so what ever arises is what has to be done. So it includes the simple tasks such as lawn mowing, washroom cleaning, gardening, cleaning, and maintenance of the common areas.

It also involves the stocking of the store, managing the office, selling park passes, operating the pool, doing weekly pump outs, making garbage runs, keeping the equipment running, splitting wood, driving tractors, lawnmowers and such.

None of the tasks are difficult, some are more physical than others, but none were beyond our abilities, many seemed strenuous when we first started, but just because we (meaning me) were a little out of shape after a winter in Florida. Most of it is treating the park as if you were the owner, if you see something that needs attention, take care of it, if it something that is out of your comfort zone then just draw it to the attention of the owners, for the most part it’s just common sense.

It also involves enforcing the the park rules whether parking, passes, quiet time, speed or what ever needs to be addressed, the weekends are the busy time, during the week the park is less than 20% occupied so that’s when most of the work is done, weekends are mainly enforcement and greeting clients.

Some basic electrical and plumbing knowledge would certainly help, but none of it is difficult, most problems are very obvious when they are found and just as easily repaired. Because it is a seasonal resort there are not a lot of bookings by transient campers but it does involve showing sites and units to potential clients as resales are handled by the office as well.

The owners are young and very involved in the operations of the resort, but would like to step away from the physical tasks such as weekly pump outs and when they are here on site take more of an ownership and public relations role. We have worked with them (notice I did not say for them) for the season and have found them to be very appreciative of our contribution to the park and have shown that many times over the season, so much so that we have already committed to return next year for the season and are looking forward to co-managing with another couple, which would lessen the load and allow a little more time to complete some needed tasks that too often get pushed aside for the regular weekly tasks.

So in short, it has been a great fit for us, the location is beautiful, the owners appreciative, most clients seem to enjoy our work ethic and our attention to detail and have told us it doesn’t go unnoticed. It was been rewarding in our experience gained, and Miss Laurie has got her gardening fix for another season, I have lost twenty pounds and got back into shape after a couple of seasons off.