Spring cleanup is a little easier this year...

It's been a few days since we've given you an update on our activities here at the park. Canada's May long weekend is the typical time of year for most campgrounds to open, and so we're in full "clean up" mode getting the park ready for it's May 20th opening.

And, quite a few things have made our job a little easier so far this year compared to last year!

First of all, there are less leaves on the ground in most areas of the park. We think this is because there was very little snowfall, and the leaves from the fall didn't get packed hard to the ground. And then there were some really windy days in March and April, and a lot of them simply blew away.

But because of the windy days, there are more small branches and twigs than in the past. This means we have to rake them up prior to doing any leaf blowing because they don't move well with the leaf blower. So, we do a rough rake of all the twigs, then use the leaf blower for final cleanup.

We rake the twigs into piles, and then onto a tarp.

Then, we load the tarp onto the back of our old truck, and empty the load into the box.

When the box is full, we take it up to the gulley beside the workshop and dump it.

We've probably done about 25 loads so far!

And, we have a full time employee who started with us on Thursday. Last year, Ruth and I were on our own untilt he end of May, so this is a big help. 

And so far the wind has cooperated. Last year, every time we cleaned one area, the wind would come up from a different direction each day and blow leaves back into the areas we had already cleaned. It was very frustrating. This year, there are less leaves to blow around, and less wind so far.

Thursday was our first day to begin taking reservations. I was on the phone non stop from 8:00am until 11:00am, and then things slowed right down. So far, I think reservations are slightly down from last year, although we have more for May long weekend than we have ever had before.

Lots of leaves in this particular area.

Oh, and good news! We finally got our satellite internet installed yesterday. The last two years we've been on a limited supply of expensive cellular internet, with a poor signal. There are a lot of mixed reviews online regarding satellite internet, but this was our only other option and it came with a 30 day money back guarantee. So it's worth a try. And so far (after less than 24 hours use), we're impressed. Plus it's cheaper, and with a lot more data. And, it will be good for the park because we can use it for our credit card machine authorizations.

So now, we can surf normally along with the rest of the world!

We've been having beautiful weather. Only problem with that is we really need some rain. The ground is so dry and the grass is turning brown already. And, I can't water yet because the lake level is so low that I'm not yet sure how I'm going to set the pump up. But, we'll figure it out over the next couple of days.

Here's another owl pic to finish off with...

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