Set up at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston In exchange for our host duties at Lake Fairfax Park, we have a spacious full hook-up site and some beautiful surroundings. It does keep us pretty busy, though. And, although we are many miles from Jacksonville, we continue to support Faith with almost daily activities. We do manage to break away occasionally and have even made it into DC for a day.
Path on Lake Fairfax Park Hosting Again
Having been several years since we served as campground hosts, we realized early that this would be a different experience. Upon arrival, we were given a somewhat vague overview of our responsibilities and told (to our surprise) that there was a 2nd host in the campground. She was cleaning the showers, so we were grateful that wasn’t on our plate.
Having been several years since we served as campground hosts, we realized early that this would be a different experience. Upon arrival, we were given a somewhat vague overview of our responsibilities and told (to our surprise) that there was a 2nd host in the campground. She was cleaning the showers, so we were grateful that wasn’t on our plate.
In our past visits to this park, we had never met a host unless we approached them. But the book we were given instructed us to clean the sites in the morning and greet campers in the evening. And there was a daily report that we were to fill out and send in. So, we did that. And, not surprisingly, we discovered we were the first hosts in quite a while (ever?) that had done any of those things. Cathy reviewed the daily reports that would help us know which sites to clean and which would receive new campers, realizing that they were not in any logical order. So, she created a checklist in numerical order that we could actually use.
We identified maintenance issues and reported them to the staff and tried to keep reporting the more serious ones to keep them in focus. When a crew cleaned out all of the fire pits, we were grateful on behalf of the campers. That is, until we realized the barrels of collected ash were going to sit in the campground for more than a week, looking a lot like trash barrels. And that’s exactly what happened. Despite our telling every camper we greeted not to put trash there, they repeatedly filled up and animals followed by spreading trash around. We even had a barrel start smoking because someone put hot ash and then trash in one. Luckily a camper spotted it and put it out quickly. The next day, the barrels were gone.
One day, we were approached by a camper that said he couldn’t put in fresh water. Why? A camper leaving that morning had unscrewed the park’s hose adaptor from the fresh water spigot. This being a particularly unique fitting, it took over 2 days to get a replacement. In the meantime, we assisted campers to use our water to fill their campers. What a relief when the replacement appeared.
We had thought we had a handle on the 72 sites in the campground, until we got a notice that groups were coming into a Hilltop group site. Oh. OK. We can handle that. Then we discovered groups were arriving at the 2 Forest Large Group sites. Alright. That’s 2 more. But then when all but 3 of the 18 small group sites were booked one weekend, it dawned on us that we had almost 100 sites we were responsible for. Pocahontas’ 65 sites were looking a lot more attractive.
But enough whining. We are in a lovely park. The weather has been mostly beautiful. Our campsite is great. And we have met many interesting people as we greet the new campers each night. It’s all good.
Bag for the Weber grill Honey, Could you make a bag?
We have been stowing our Weber grill in a plastic tub while we travel, but the tub is large and bulky. It has to go into the forward compartment, which is behind the hitch pin, so stowing and retrieving it is pretty awkward. But we have lived with this for a couple of years, so what changed? Well, it took an Amazon order that had as a “bonus” item a ping-pong table cover for free. That got Dave’s wheels turning. Why not use this material for his new grill bag?
We have been stowing our Weber grill in a plastic tub while we travel, but the tub is large and bulky. It has to go into the forward compartment, which is behind the hitch pin, so stowing and retrieving it is pretty awkward. But we have lived with this for a couple of years, so what changed? Well, it took an Amazon order that had as a “bonus” item a ping-pong table cover for free. That got Dave’s wheels turning. Why not use this material for his new grill bag?
Cathy attaching webbing to side of bag There was more than enough material in the cover to make the bag, even though it needed to stand pretty tall. You see, unlike the bags you could buy online, our bag would hold the grill and the base it sits in. It also needed to have something to stiffen the sides so that it would stand up while putting the grill away. And finally, it had to fold up flat when not in use.
Cathy mulled over these requirements and came up with a design that she thought she could make. Using the fabric from the cover, some red 2” webbing that we got from a free table years ago, a long #8 continuous zipper and some zipper pulls from a bag that Cathy disassembled, it looked like we were all set with supplies and it wouldn’t cost anything. Well, not exactly. In order to have the sides stiffened, Cathy decided to use some plastic placemats from Dollar Tree. Total cost $7.50.
Cathy mulled over these requirements and came up with a design that she thought she could make. Using the fabric from the cover, some red 2” webbing that we got from a free table years ago, a long #8 continuous zipper and some zipper pulls from a bag that Cathy disassembled, it looked like we were all set with supplies and it wouldn’t cost anything. Well, not exactly. In order to have the sides stiffened, Cathy decided to use some plastic placemats from Dollar Tree. Total cost $7.50.
Finished product As for the labor involved, that took a couple of days to design and 3 more days to execute. All-in-all, it looks pretty good and seems to meet all of Dave’s “requirements”.
Into DC
We broke away from our duties at the park to take a trip to DC to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture. We had a timed-entry ticket for 1pm, and we emerged from the Smithsonian Metro station just after 12:30. We arrived a bit early for our ticket, but it wasn’t a problem.
The museum is one of the Smithsonian’s newest additions and is very popular. Unfortunately, that meant it was very crowded and it was hard to spend time appreciating the various displays.
We broke away from our duties at the park to take a trip to DC to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture. We had a timed-entry ticket for 1pm, and we emerged from the Smithsonian Metro station just after 12:30. We arrived a bit early for our ticket, but it wasn’t a problem.
The museum is one of the Smithsonian’s newest additions and is very popular. Unfortunately, that meant it was very crowded and it was hard to spend time appreciating the various displays.
As we were directed, we started in the lowest level with the earliest history of the arrival of African Americans to North America. The displays moved forward in time as we ascended through several levels back to the lobby. After a couple of hours, we stopped for a very tasty lunch at the museum cafe, before heading back out. We wanted to make the metro before rush hour began. So, we missed some of the exhibits on the upper levels.
There was a lot to take in, and another visit with smaller crowds would be worth it.
There was a lot to take in, and another visit with smaller crowds would be worth it.
Transitions at Faith
We continue to support Faith as they make their way through the transition to a new identity. Dave works on new emails, Youtube channel and the transition to a new instance of their Accounting and Payroll software. Cathy’s efforts are directed more toward the website, a new logo and some smaller details. Since the change takes effect June 1st, and we will be moving away from good internet that day, we hope to get much ready to go before then.
We continue to support Faith as they make their way through the transition to a new identity. Dave works on new emails, Youtube channel and the transition to a new instance of their Accounting and Payroll software. Cathy’s efforts are directed more toward the website, a new logo and some smaller details. Since the change takes effect June 1st, and we will be moving away from good internet that day, we hope to get much ready to go before then.
Birgit and Joe joined us for a dinner at the park. Dinners, Donuts and Doctors
Our reasons for choosing to spend time in Reston were connected to our time living here. We had our annual physicals scheduled, since our primary care doctor is here. That is followed by some celebratory doughnuts at Duck Donuts. And we reached out to friends to get together. Our neighbors Joe and Birgit joined us for a picnic dinner one unseasonably chilly night, but we still had a great visit.
Our reasons for choosing to spend time in Reston were connected to our time living here. We had our annual physicals scheduled, since our primary care doctor is here. That is followed by some celebratory doughnuts at Duck Donuts. And we reached out to friends to get together. Our neighbors Joe and Birgit joined us for a picnic dinner one unseasonably chilly night, but we still had a great visit.
Parting Shot
One of our recent purchases was a water meter to determine more precisely how much water we have in the tank when we fill it. As we spend more time at sites without full hook-ups, managing our water use, will be more critical.
One of our recent purchases was a water meter to determine more precisely how much water we have in the tank when we fill it. As we spend more time at sites without full hook-ups, managing our water use, will be more critical.
