Kathleen's Window: Finally Here! Geneva Point Center on Lake Winnipesaukee, N H

Friday, May 29, 2015

We finally left Connecticut on Wednesday, May 13^th after spending the morning waiting for our credit card. It arrived shortly after we left. Argh....! Oh well, life as nomads has its small problems. Greg's brother sent it on. Since we are now stationary for a while, we can receive mail. And we ARE stationary! Until the end of October we are officially residents of Geneva Point Center.

We spent the night before arriving, camping at an RV park just off I-91 at the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border, and drove the few hours north on Thursday. We called Peter, the Executive Director, to tell him we were an hour out, and would it be okay to come early. The answer was “Yes!”, so mid-afternoon we rolled in. After driving along the northwestern shore of Lake Winnipesaukee we turned south onto the Moultonborough Neck and near the end made the turn that took us to Geneva Point Center. The staff came out to greet us and we felt instantly at home. After a short walk with everyone to the staff RV park, we drove the rig into our space and got settled.

Campsite at Travelers Woods of New England in Massachusetts just south of Brattleboro, VT.

Our quiet, shady camp at Geneva Point is close enough to the lake that we hear Loons calling most nights.

Our fire ring and view toward the lake through the maple, oak, and birch forest.

We have the end spot in the 6 site RV area, and are nestled into the woods at the edge of the property. Rick and Cookie are our nearest neighbors across the path. Beside them are four more staff cabins, the Winni Nest for the younger staff to hang out in, and across the field more staff cabins for those same youngsters. Across the paved road are the old inn, the administrative buildings, and my shops. Farther on is the green with the chapel, meeting house, and the barn. Scattered among the almost 200 acres are various cabins and accommodations, and trails to the three beaches. We currently eat our meals in the meeting house, but will shift over to the inn's dining hall when we are at fuller capacity.

Wooster Cabin in College Row is one of dozens of simple 4-bunk cabins for families or groups

Most cabins have a half bath and room for 4 to 8 bunks.

The Barn, circa 1870s, has a nice recycled gymnasium floor for dances

This was the Winnepesaukee Inn in 1885, we just call it the Inn

The front door of the Inn

The Inn porch is very popular on hot days

Looking at the lake side of the Inn

Looking across the upper campus at the Chapel

The Meeting House has a modern kitchen and banquet facilities

We have been extremely busy since we arrived working and getting settled in. Hence no posting. Greg has been busy on the grounds and maintenance crew. He is thrilled to be driving the dump truck and tractor. His expertise has been helpful as the crew has been putting in water and sewer for a 13 site RV park for guests. Otherwise he has been hauling brush and doing whatever labor is asked of him. Happy, happy Greg! A no stress job, just dig holes and haul brush!

So far, Greg has spent much more time with a hand shovel than running the tractor

The heavy wire for the new RV park electric service

The RV park in progress

All of the RV campsites will be backed into the woods

Cleaning up leaves and brush with the little but handy dump truck

I was quickly introduced to the ice cream shop, gift shop, and the guest laundromat. Since Geneva Point is a non-profit that markets to other non-profits for camp and conference experiences, it needs to fund raise. My shops are a place to earn extra income for the center to fulfill its mission. I've had lots of work to do cleaning, organizing, researching merchandise to sell and just wrapping my head around how things are done here.

The Winni Scoops ice cream shop

The Gift Shop adjoins the ice cream shop

Beginning to inventory the gift shop

First look at the ice cream shop

Left over Gift Shop merchandise

Ice Cream Shop memorabilia

Waiting for ice cream

Our dozen or so co-workers are great. We are tasked with getting the whole place ready for the summer season. Long hours, and lots of esprit de corps help. Soon the summer help arrives. Lots of international students and local youth. I will have a young man from England, and a young woman from Ireland, as well as a few local boys part time to work in my shops.

As our neighbor Cookie says, “This is a great gig!”. We thoroughly researched work camping opportunities since this was to be our first one. We are living in a beautiful place in the New Hampshire woods with the largest lake in the state bounding the property. We have full hook-ups; water, electric, sewer, cable and wifi access. All our meals are provided, and we are paid for full time work. Greg is working six days a week. I just made the decision, with the director, to cut back to five days a week. Too much for me. This way I will be able to keep up with my writing. Our expenses have been cut back. Since we are parked until the end of October we are not spending on diesel, propane or camping fees. They are feeding us, so only a small food bill for odds and ends, and we will be too busy working to spend on eating out or other impulse buys. Our fixed expenses remain the same, but now we have some income to offset them.

The main driveway in front of the Chapel

The historic chapel

The front entrance of the Chapel

Since we bought the car to tow, we have transportation to travel a bit, so later in the Fall we should have more time to explore. Everything slows down here after Labor Day when wedding season kicks in on the weekends. We expect to have a great experience here and are already enjoying making friends with our fellow workers, interesting retirees who want to contribute their efforts to running a remarkable place.