John guided LilyPad into our Host Site and the afternoon was spent with set-up, then a quick visit to my cousins Bob and Brenda’s house a few blocks from the Park and back to LilyPad for a much needed quiet nights rest.
My first impression of the “per person” 30 hour work week camp host requirement was met with trepidation. No stinky bathrooms to clean but a slight resemblance to hard labor at our calculation of $3.00 per hour so I expected this to be one incredible Park.
Bowl and Pitcher Rapids
Up early to meet with Ranger Frahm, minimal on instructions but easy going and not the slave driver type. He reiterated, we are not on bathroom duty. John and I took a self-guided tour of this gigantic Washington State Park. Thus begins our 28 day work camp hosting position.
In actuality, we only work 30 hours per site, not per person, and most of the hours are fulfilled by smiling and greeting campers. Now that’s more my style…and did I mention, we don’t’ do no stinkin’ bathrooms!
As hosts, we check bathrooms for supplies, rake sites, clean fire pits, check garbage/recycling and call it into the office if they are full and answer questions from campers. Sadly (wink, wink), I cannot help John with raking or fire pits as I am still on major asthma medication, so my contribution is donning a big smile and answering questions from campers, selling fire wood and ice, checking bathrooms for supplies and posting “site reserved” signs. From about 3pm on, when our campers begin building fires to keep warm, I am confined to our box on wheels.
Amphitheater and Vault toilet in group site
Water hose froze last night. Not surprising as it sinks to the low 20’s around 4 am before creeping back up to the low 60’s during the day. Our “it’s always something” is a snapped off main bolt under our large slide, broken quick connects for our hoses, stuck door awning, loose screws and a split drawer. Not terribly bad, but must still be addressed.
Host walk-about revealed a 216 foot long swinging bridge, originally hand built by The Civilian Conservation Corps to span the Bowl and Pitcher Rapids, rebuilt to withstand heavier foot traffic in 1998 using the same plans.
Anticipated future exploration of our hosting includes a hike over the bridge to see where it leads and another to view the returning birds of prey when they force the geese from their nests. Presently the storm is dumping cold rain, hail and snow on everything but should depart the area post-weekend. Accuweather is predicting a gorgeous Spring Break weekend.
Seventh night…woke to major hissing, growling, shrieking noises outside our window. Didn’t see anything but keen survival instincts warned me not to venture outside to seek an explanation…DUH! A Ranger confirmed that it was male bobcats challenging each other for mates and that nighttime in the park is occupied by countless things that go bite in the night. Fox, wolves, coyote’s, bobcats, all our furry neighbors stalk out in hunt mode when the sun goes down. Note to self…stay close to LilyPad when the moon rises.
We have settled into our Host routine, we being the downstairs maids, Ellen being the upstairs maid, and are in cahoots with our cousins to do the sightseeing-with-out-of-town-visitors “thing” when our off duty days arrive. The riverside is breaking out in Cornflowers and tiny purple something’s …Spring is about to hatch.
