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.

The wood spliter and I have a date, I need to split as much of the wood pile as possible as we are trying to clear this area, and as much as you need to season firewood. Some of this fire wood is becoming punkie, and that means it is not saleable and burns way too fast. So I’m finding it easier to split and throw it into the tractor bucket saleable on one side unsaleable on the other then I take to bucket to the shed and bag the saleable and anything not saleable gets stacked for staff use.

The pile has some good solid firewood and some is not good enough to bag and sell to guests, so there is a sorting process that I have to go through with each one as I split. The good wood gets bagged for next years sales, the odd shaped (un-bag-able pieces) and the punkier wood get split and stacked for staff use. My feeling is that if your buying a bag of fire you need to get good value, I have bought enough firewood to know that these bags are packed full and each one weighs about 70 Ibs. or 15 kg.

The view as I work is pretty hard to beat as the temperature high for today is 19 or 70 degrees, and as you can see sunny and bright, which make the task much easier. Not that many of our tasks have been difficult. As we seem to be given reasonably good equipment to use, not necessarily new but in well maintained condition. When I went to start this project I broke the pull start on the gas motor. There is a bit of a design fault with the exhaust or intake on the splitter and it allows rain water to get into the engine, so when I went to start it, the water caused a hydraulic lock which brought it to an abrupt stop and with me pulling I broke the recoil.

The splitter is built by Champion and no one in the Goderich area carries repair parts, every one sells Champion products but no repair pieces, so I called the Champion office in Burlington Ontario, spoke with a service representative and to my amazement he sent me a whole new recoil start for the splitter at no charge…yes I said NO CHARGE. In my world no one does business that way, I would have needed a credit card up front and would have paid for the part and shipping…so to say I was impressed is an understatement. Anyone that has spent any time in the desert around Quartzsite will recognize the Champion name as the manufacture of generators, the noisy ones, they are not Honda quality or quiet but are popular because of price and if is any indication as to their service…lets just say I’m impressed.