BDN 2 New Year's Brain Dead Night

I had been out and about, leaving my warm paradise for short bursts. Helping people extend their stay all morning. The cold was not lifting from the air very quickly. But with the lunch hour approaching, the sun shining, the afternoon looked very hopeful for only a couple of layers of clothes. Things just started to slow down, and my wife and I decided to watch a movie in our trailer. A small SUV, that did not look familiar, rolled up the driveway. My wife and I both watched, as the guy driving it, slowly pulled up to the little building next to us. We had many people coming in with their cars and vans, looking for a place to bring their trailers to live. I have really discouraged them. The Fairgrounds would rather have this RV Park for tourist, or what we call "Snowbirds". People who want to stay a few weeks durning certain months. Not wanting to live here. Or people who are looking to visit the area or friends and family, for a few days or short stay. This man coming from his SUV, looked like the ones, that was looking for a place to live. I stopped the movie and put on my warm slip on boots. By the time I opened the door, the man from the SUV, had started walking over to our trailer. I grabbed the keys for the little building, so I could get him a list of all the Trailer Parks in the area, and ventured outside. I had not even put on my coat, thinking this would be a quick run out and back. Instead, he introduced himself, as the man putting on "The New Year's Eve Concert", over at the Fairgrounds. I just listened. The office for the fairgrounds, was closed for that week, and no one had told us anything about a Concert or Party for New Year's Eve! So all of this was quite a surprise! The man went on, about where WE wanted the shuttle bus tent. I was stumped! He continued on about, he already had a list of reservations of 40 or so RV's and Vans coming in with many people! If he should cut them off at 100 or 120? Not being aware of anything going on, I just looked at him with wide open, blank eyes! Finally I asked him into our trailer, so he could talk with my wife, also. But he received about the same look from her! She was just as puzzled as I was. As he talked, we finally came to the realization, there WAS going to be a Big Party, and WE would be right in the middle of it! We exchanged phone numbers and e-mail address, and he gave us his card and a small copy of the flyer that he the list of entertainers that would be performing for New Year's Eve. Adding that he would e-mail us with a detail list of all the people's reservations! Then he told us to think about where we wanted the shuttle bus tent and he would get back to me later. After he left, we sat there for quite a few minutes in silence. Finally we started to talk and discussed lists of everything that HAD to be done. From the garbage, to the bathrooms, from the supplies, to how to keep people from just driving in and not paying. How to handle getting that many people checked in. The list kept growing, and my wife started to panic. "This is INSANE", she kept saying, over and over! I knew from the past campground hosting, I really had to hustle to get around 10 RV's registered and in a place, in a hour. With paperwork for each registration, showing them their spots, placing a back flow device on their RV hookups, making parking passes and any questions they had .. where would I steal any extra time from, to handle 100 or so, in just a few hours? Plus the swam of many people having parties at the RV Park! Trying to calm them down, so not to disturbed other campers. The big thing was, just myself handling all of this! I don't squeeze the trailers together, like they do durning their busy "Fair" time, when they are over full. I usually only have about 2 rows of people, so I let them park where they want. With over 100 spaces, that are being worked on, leaving only 50 or less spaces that are useable, right now. I would have to put the trailers in like sardines! Saying, "Share, Please!" But That Would Not Be Enough Spaces Still! Plus I would have to tell the people that were already here, and had expected a quite New Year Eve, they were going to be invaded, with "Party Animals". My mind was racing so I decided to tackle each situation we had discussed, one by one. I got the golf cart and scouted the outlining fences, looking for loose protable guard fences. I knew I had seen some along the permanent fences, at the few small entrances openings. One by one, I gathered up the few, and made a make shift fence leading from the entrance of the park to our trailer and the little building. In hopes to keep people from cutting through with their cars, trucks and RV's. Not registering, and Not paying! Later that day, I found the guests that were here, driving between the line of fences I had made. So off I went on a hunt for the orange cones to put between the gaps in the fences. To try and stop the cars and trucks from cutting through. I also decided to call one of the "In Charge Guys" over at the Fairgrounds, and explained I had not been informed about his event. I needed someone to come over with a truck to move around the garbage barrels. Since most people drink, I thought, there would be a lot of bottles and garbage! It had rained a few days before, and in this area of northern California, the ground does not absorb the water quickly, like it does in Las Vegas, where we are from. So it ends up with standing water for a week or more. Thus causing sink holes and small ponds. I have told the Administration Office, I was going to buy some fish to put in the standing water. Sell fishing licenses and having a great lake for the RV Park! Or maybe a Mud Bog Contest! When you drive in certain areas, which the Fairgrounds is working on to correct this problem, you sink! They are far from completing the correction for these problems. Just ask the garbage truck driver. He sunk the truck in it really deep! So bad, he almost had to call for some of the big rigs, from the Fairgrounds, to get him out of it! His huge double wheels were spinning and throwing mud everywhere. He would finally get a small bite of some hard dirt. The truck would leap forward, then again the wheels would start spinning and digging in. All the time the tires were searching for more solid spots. Finding one for about a foot and then spinning again. This went on and on for I don't know how long. What a mess, and what big ruts he left behind going in all directions! He did finally get out! Leaving the grounds looking like a big platter of mounds of spaghetti. The Fairgrounds people, did come over with a grader, some filler and smooth out the really deep ruts. That took a number of times going back and forth, and that never did take the remembrance of those deep ruts out! I took the rest of the unused garbage barrels and blocked off those areas. Added yellow caution tape. I hoped people would not retrace the garbage truck driver routes! Normally, I tried to tell everyone coming in, to keep away from those areas. Steer them to the areas that had gravel. But there was only 2 rows of gravel spaces. I really tried to convince people, not to park in that hard dirt. Because, if it rains, then their spot would turn into a big sink hole pond. We had one camper, a few weeks before, insist in parking in one of those dirt spaces, that was still damp looking. The space was under a tree, and they prefer the shade of the tree. ( Shade in the Winter when it gets around freezing? What are they going to think of next?) The next day, the wife asked to move. Her husband kept rolling out of bed! As the "Foot Print" (levelers, with wood underneath them, that goes down on the dirt, to level the rigs) started sinking, durning the night. This causing the trailer to tilt, and he would roll off the bed. He would adjust, but in a short while again, he would roll off the bed, again!

After Reading The Section Below, Click On This Link To Go To Chapter 3

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Don't Forget The Based On True Stories of "Cuneo The Breakfast Bear and Friends  http://www.squidoo.com/CuneoTheBreakfastBearAndFriends/

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