Hi all, After thinking I was going to go off-line for the summer due to my not being home I decided not to so I will be able to give you all a weekly report how Life as a Camp Host really is.
Not to many Picts though, unless I see a fellow FGRVer as people get parinoid if they see a uniformed person takeing pictures of them.
A little back round first...The Covered Bridge Campground, located near Conway NH, has 49 sites and 7 bathrooms (14 really, men & women) but they say 7 so it sounds like you do not have so much cleaning to do, and is made up of a lower loop and an upper loop all about a 3/4 mile walk around.
The campground has 2 hosts, me and some other people wo will be comeing in this week sometime.
Saying that, I was the only host for one of the biggest holidays of the summer.
All started good as it was a Wed. when I arrived and my manager went over how to clean the SST (Sweet Smelling toilets, just outhouses), how to check reserved site people in and how to check first come first serve peopel in.
I was on my own and few people came in Thursday and then on Friday they started pulling in by the dozen.
As said there is suppose to be 2 hosts, one on lower loop who is on site 4 so they see everyone comeing in but I was on upper loop site 38, so I only saw maybe 40% of the people comeing in.
I felt I had to go around every 1/2 hour of so to check in people but this was probably not true, but it is much easier to tell them the rules about setting up a tent only on the gravel area before they set it up then after it is set up in the woods or they have a 6 pack of beer in them.
By Friday evening I only had 2 sites left available and my manager came around about 8PM for a drive though with me and to check my paper-work (which was marginal but acceptable.)
Our fire wood dilivery was not made yet so people expecting some were alittle upset but...OH WELL.
On our drive through I said that site 35 may be troublesome over the weekend as they were 8, maybe 20 year-olds and thier table looked like a well stocked bar, when I went in and asked them to move thier tent off the nice soft pine needles onto the gravel but I explaned about trying to promote re-growth and I do not make the rules I just have to enforce them and they grumbled a bit so we went and visited them and she told them how it was going to be for the weekend.
The nite wasn't too bad and only had to enforce a few wild looking fire laws with flame to high or kids running around with flameing sicks (the parents should be kicked in the butts)
and I was in bed by 11:00
Up the next day and did my walk through about 6 and saw that one more site was taken during the night but nobody awake so I take the tag # off vehicle and will visit later.
8AM walk through and site again empty but will have to wait for manager to check money tube to see if they payed...they did not so I gave her the tag # and she will handle it.
I was called into stopped on the road by a camper and asked if anyone complained about him on site 49 and I said not that I had heard, but come to find out him being down on our most remote site and quite a way away from my site, after hours the sherif and manager does drive throughs until about 2AM and they did have a large fire and was loud so they got some warnings.
10:00 comes time to clean SST's, a 2 hour job if you stick right to it but people want to talk(not to long as the smell usually drive them away) but it takes 3 hours to get them all done then I get just a bite to eat., and sit a bit.
At 2 I walk around again, and find my last 2 sites are full so I pull the FULL sign and now registrations are done (so I think) as people always leave early so I have more paperwork to do when new people come in.
Evening again things are getting loud at 35 so I warn them and like the tide it ebbs and flows with the volume but no biggie, YET!
Sites 14-15-16 are an extended family of emigrents who like to gather on one site and party hard but no complaints to me as of YET! Unknown to me shirif and manager broke thier party last night.
My manager comes and checks my paper work and is happy with that and we now have fire wood but a very small amount and this sells out fast.
Had to handle a black bear in site 26-27 who we just sort of steared so it would not come into anymore sites but it will come right back and we advise the people to keep food and garbage in cars or with the garbage in dumpster and lock dumpsters and not to comfront it just make alittle noise and it will leave.
Now very tired and all is quite at my 10PM drive though but maybe they hear my truck and quiet down and this is true because site 14-15-16 again gets visit after hours and this time I hear about it because my manager feels I should have see it comeing but with 15 non-english speaking people I guese the sherif the night before could not make an impression on them so what can I do.
Up at 5:30 to sneak out and travel the 6 miles to the nearest campground that has showers and have a nice hot shower and back by 6:30...all is quet.
Start the SST's at 9:30 and they are a mess ( I can not tell you what goes on in them at night but it is gross)
Get down by 14 to clean and manager shows up and tells me then about sherifs visit again here and during this conversation one of the party comes over and accuses us of playing racest against them and I explain that every enfraction is on the rules paper that I had given them the first day
1- litter
2- wrong way on one-way (3 times)
3- leaving campsites with food all around
4- manager also says too loude after quite time
About then another campsite turns radio too loude and I go over and they start to complain about the party and the smelly BATHROOMS...I said the sherif was handling the night hours and my manager is now talking to them again and THESE ARE NOT BATHROOMS they are OUTHOUSES and there are plenty of BATHROOMS in N. Conway in hotels if they do not like the odor.
My manager likes the way I handle them and says so.
Get back to my site and my personal supply of firewood is going down.
Somebody stealing my wood because we have none
for sale.
Taken a bit of a break now after lunch and down on 35 getting a bit loud, I go down and tell them to keep it down as they are only renting site not whole campground and again things get a bit better.
1 hour later LOUD again I race down and this time not so friendly... but there are only 8 of them and I again tell them to keep it down and this is thier last warning and it will be the last time they see me, the next person they see will be wearing a badge and as I look around I say "and he will be checking ID's"
I go back to my golf-cart and the rentee of the site starts to stager over to me and his girl-friend is trying to call him back so this tells me he has caused trouble like this before so I remain seated so not to open up a threatening posture and he slures..."is it the swearing or the loudness because it is all me...not them".
I tell him, its all of the above and he can ether sleap on his cot here in the campground or down at county jail it is "ALL UP TO YOU" And I go back.
By my 9PM drive though they are all in bed. unlike down on 14 and I can see they are setting up another party for the night, but quiet now.
I decide to walk though at 10 and yup LOUD so I go in and get the rentee and tell her it is now quiet time and as saying this I see 2 men arm lock wrestling and in about a minute they are going at it so I say that is is I am getting the sherif.
Now I am a good 10 minutes back to my site and getting the manager on the radio takes another 5 and her to drive down another 15.
When we get back to the site they insist there was no fight and my manager gets them to dispers and go to bed....
Monday finaly....40 of the 49 sites are leaving today.
I can clean garbage and SST's all day long and it may be dirty and smelly but at least id doesn't cope an attidure enduced by liqure.
So all in all just 10% of campers may be jerks.
What made it worth it all though was when I was cleaning the SST down by the exit I had 4 campers go by and said they had a great time and they will be back and I was doing a great job.
Made me smile to myself and say
I AM GOING TO LOVE THIS SUMMER JOB.
Talk to you all next week.
Gerry
DesertHawk- Las Cruces, NM USA 
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