Off to the Winston Police Department for fingerprinting to complete our background checks after work this morning.  Rest of the day is shopping, peeking into lots of resale shops and home to relax.

Dark clouds loom overhead and everyone is praying for rain as the fires in Oregon are quickly spreading.   The campgrounds, motels and hotels are at capacity surrounding the fire areas.  People are leaving their homes to get away from the smoke.  Not a wisp of smoke from the major fires has shown up here so far.  The trees in our area are so dense that it keeps smoke moving along its way higher up in elevation.

What we do have are mice.  Two fell into the condensation bucket we keep at the back of the motorhome and drowned.  John didn’t realize they were dead…thought they were just upright standing extremely still on their hind legs.  Might be time for John to get new glasses.

I had lots of mice/rat sticky trays and we dotted them around the site.  We bought highly scented herbal mouse deterrent packets and put them by the tires.  Our group campground host neighbor John laughed and said that he tried the trays but they carried them away.  Totally thought he was kidding until the next morning when we discovered that every single one of our trays were gone!  We are not amused…this means war!  Our motorhome is not big enough for more of anything with a mouth, no matter how small.   It’s time to get serious.

Kenny, our maintenance manager, advised us that mice and rats are a problem around this area but he had a solution.   It involved a bucket, a rod, one can (coke type), water and peanut butter.

Darn if that old Mississippian didn’t know exactly what he was talking about!  We caught two last night bringing our count to four.   John threw the water logged bodies on the side of the road and they were gone within the hour.  Something out there is enjoying the free lunch.

Evening has arrived and our large family reunion of 150 are still enjoying their camping experience at the pavilion.  They will be here for two full days and with the campground filled, it is busy.  Morning bathroom duty turns from a minor choir into actual work.   Sunday we have another large group so the pavilion will be bustling for three full days, as will the bathrooms.

I spotted a small fluffy dog running loose at the pavilion so I had the master of ceremonies make an announcement to all, please keep all pets on a leash.  The next morning, I noticed that the dog was again running around the area but they had followed my instructions.  The dog was on a leash…but no one was holding the other end.   Must be more specific next time.

John was up early as we got a complaint about some teens skate boarding through the campground at 6 am.  Quiet time is 10pm through 7am.  It was nippy this morning and the teens were nowhere to be seen.  I’m sure they were all tucked tightly into their sleeping bags sound asleep.  The campground was full of peace and quiet.  When John returned there were several more “free lunches” in the bucket for that critter who waits somewhere out there in the woods.

Saturday and Sunday are not days of rest for camp hosts.  Flush bathrooms first, touch up the pavilion then John cleans vault toilets, we check and clean campsites and clean up our cleaning area.  Not the fun part of the work camp experience so I’m not the happiest of campers this morning.  When I was 17, I worked cleaning motel rooms.  Guess I have come full circle.  Keep wondering if my witch powers, which John claims I have, include twitching my nose to accomplish feats.  If that were true, a few twitches of my nose and “poof” a day off!

KatieBug is totally enjoying this adventure.  She rides in the cart with John three times a day, has a huge backyard to play in and has her people with her almost 24/7.

While cleaning one of the vacant camp sites we spotted two little figurines watching us work.   It is truly amazing what the minds of children can conjure up when TV, cell phones and computer games are not available.

We have hummingbirds in the park.  Group campground host John has been feeding them and Karen, past host, had a feeder up by her bedroom window.  I took it down and moved it out  because it drew ants.  For almost a week, even the nasty noisy little one that chased all the others away had not returned.  Today several came back.  Got a picture of one but they are cautious so I’ll lie in wait some evening to get better pictures.  I was surprised that “Guzzler” didn’t fly, just sat and drank for a long time.

Just past the town of Glide is a large ranch that has several dozen Longhorns.   Seeing them is a happy reminder of back home.

Today is our day off, one each week, and we head to the big city of Roseburg.  KatieBug goes in for a mani/pedi/bath and we do lunch and grocery shop.

It rained today…thank you Lord!  I’m not sure if it helped with the fires but it couldn’t have hurt.  No smoke yet but they are getting closer to our forest and not under control.