Saylorville Lake 70 Degrees Cloudy
The first week back in Iowa is always a very busy one. We
dropped the jacks in Acorn Valley Campground last Friday, our temporary site
while they prepared Volunteer Village for habitation post flood. We have barely
come up for air since.
In the eight days since our return we have seen all three kids. On Saturday morning we went to the zoo for an Easter Event with two of our kids and their families and had two grandsons overnight, Tuesday we met a new great- great (that’s right 2 greats) niece who was born on Monday, then on Wednesday evening attended our grandson Hunter's first Little League Baseball game of the season. I love baseball and especially watching him play.
1st stayover with Hunter and Isaac 
Isaac birdwatching with me 
New baby in the family!
We started work for the lake on Monday. Earth Day made for a fitting first day to begin the 2019 Season with the Natural Resources Team. We were tasked with mulching young trees that were planted last season throughout the campgrounds and day use areas. It was the first time Champ and I have worked together in over a year. Over the course of the day we spread two pick up dump boxes of mulch. It felt good to do physical work again after a winter of loafing and working on a teller line at the credit union in Florida. As we made our way around the lake, I soaked up the fact that I was once again back in one of my favorite places. Eastern Bluebirds were busy flying back and forth to the nesting boxes, placed around the prairie areas for them, readying their nests. Red Winged Blackbirds serenade us from their perch on the ends of 4-foot-high stalks of still dormant prairie grass. Every now and again I would look up and see a Bald Eagle soaring above or hear a hawk call. It was a glorious day. On Tuesday, Champ reported to his supervisor who showed him the scope of his new role as Playground Inspector. He will inspect and file reports on the 21 playgrounds located throughout the campgrounds and day use areas and work with Natural Resources in his spare hours. I spent Tuesday getting all the required testing completed so I can drive the vehicles, mowers, tractors and UTV’s. Wednesday we went to the annual Orientation for all the volunteers here this season.
Got Mulch? 
Not a bad office view! 
We got to move back to Volunteer Village this morning. As
everyone moved their RV’s from Acorn Valley and started setting up for the
season in our permanent sites we visited back and forth, helped each other and
got caught up on winter news. The sun was shining high in the blue spring sky
and with temperatures around 70 degrees it was a perfect afternoon to be
outside getting settled into our sites. Buster and Annie know they are home.
They roamed for a bit sniffing and rolling around. Their scratching stump is
still here from last year. As I watched them, I realized they really do know
they are home and could almost see them breathing a sigh of relief as they
settled in to our summer digs in their own feline way. We have some new
denizen’s in the village this season including my cousins, who are making the
full-time RV living plunge and doing their first gig here at Saylorville.
After an evening elementary school fun night with our
granddaughter and son, we are back at home, finally catching our breath and
sitting down for more than 5 minutes since arriving last Friday. Just writing
this and recalling all that has happened in the past eight days made me tired!
Until Next Time…
