August 5, 2016
We are currently settling back in at Geneva Point Center, the camp
and conference center in New Hampshire where we workcamped last
summer. Our time at Bethpage Camp Resort in Virginia came to an
abrupt end when we finally decided that a very bad fit wasn't getting
any better and our mental and physical health was suffering.
Workcamping jobs are supposed to be fun. You usually work hard, but
the expectation is that the people and the surroundings make up for
your efforts. We were tired, sleep deprived, and unable to make
personal connections with many of our fellow staff members. I had
been moved off the the front desk, and avoided working in the off
site call center by asking to work in the busy camp store. Morale was
poor, and some of our colleagues had not yet shed their
pre-retirement “job personas”. The day to day job was no fun, and
our fatigue and schedule made it hard to unwind with friends
afterwards. We've made good friends on our other jobs but it seemed
harder on this one.
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| Our Campsite next to the maintenance yard |
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| Greg's golf cart for Host duties |
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| The marina and rental fleet |
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| Our shady shelter on the sweltering Virginia afternoons |
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| Enjoying local "ersters" on the dock of the neighboring restaurant |
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| They have fried up a few oysters at this joint! |
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| Great burgers in Tappahannok, Virginia |
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| No Green Chile Cheeseburgers, but mighty good just the same! |
What I've written covers the personal toll, but not the clientele,
scheduling, management, and living arrangement issues. So, we left...
We beat a hasty retreat to our daughter's family in Maryland. We
originally picked this workcamping job to be close to family. The
camp resort was not the appeal. The location was. We did get back for
a few quick overnights during our two months there, but the horrible
I-95 corridor traffic extended our drives. We cocooned with family
for a week, enjoying being grandparents and contemplated a new plan.
We needed a place to carry us through Labor Day. The heat wave made
us look north and we felt that Geneva Point Center on Lake
Winnipesauke, New Hampshire might be willing to have us back. With
six weeks left to work, we knew we wouldn't be able to get back to
Maryland during that time, but knowing we have a long visit with
family at the end of that time, we decided it might work. Within 2
hours we were excitedly asked back and began to load up the rig for
the two-day trip north.
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| Telling Grandpa where to go |
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| Ready to head out with Grandma! |
The first travel day we wound up stranded on I-81 in Pennsylvania
with a flat tire. Good Sam road service came within decent time and
got us back on the road. We spent the night at the Connecticut
Welcome center. Around 3:30 pm on Wednesday, July 27
th we
drove the shady back road into Geneva Point Center. When we left on
Labor Day last year, frankly, I never expected to be back. After a
stressful summer managing the shops, I didn't want to put myself in
that position again. But, Greg had a great summer on the Buildings
and Grounds team and made wonderful friends who were eager for him to
come back.
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| Our shady New Hampshire Home in the sugar maple woods |
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| Local Residents on First Beach |
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| Second Beach |
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| Memorial plaques for our biggest group - here for their 100th annual gathering |
After two months of feeling beat down and unappreciated in my job,
I hadn't realized how much I missed being with people that genuinely
care about me and I, them. We were welcomed back with open arms and
have been soaking up the slower pace, easy comradery, and the beauty
of the New Hampshire woods. The old buildings feel familiar, and it
was easy to just fall back into the rhythm of the place. Greg has
been off working on Buildings and Grounds projects, happy to be
trusted to get his jobs done. I have been asked to drive our young
international staff on their days off for hiking and errands. They
will be gone from here in 3 weeks, so this is their last chance to
see some of the sights. Last night I helped out in my former
workplace, the ice cream shop, filling in on the register. I got to
catch up with guests that I made friends with last year. Today, I
decided to just relax and allow myself a day off. Tomorrow I will
jump in to help on changeover day, and start next week by taking a
group of Eastern European girls on a hiking trip.
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| Selfie at Cathedral Ledge |
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| Matt braving the American side of the Atlantic |
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| Proof that Kathleen got her feet wet! |
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| The CAT ferry to Nova Scotia from Portland |
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| The Basin at Franconia Notch |
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| Studying fluvial scouring of granite bedrock - Not... |
There's a method to the madness, I suppose, and it feels peaceful
here, like this was the plan all along. Tonight we'll be able to
sleep with the windows open again in the cool New England night and
forget about hot, dry, Virginia while we listen for the loons calling
on the lake.
Update- This post has been sitting for a week since I've been busy
running the kids all over New Hampshire and Maine. After helping out
in the laundry on change-over day last Saturday, I took Sunday off
with Greg. We just chilled! Then I took groups of international staff
for the next four days to the mountains of New Hampshire, and the
beaches and lighthouses of Portland, Maine. We had a great time in
the old camp van with the broken air-conditioning, (the only
downside). The majority of our staff is from Eastern Europe, areas
that I know little about, so it has been a great learning experience
for all of us. Most trips end with a visit to Walmart! We even
searched out a “good old-fashioned American barber shop” for Matt
from Slovakia. It's been a bit of a stretch for me. I am meeting all
these kids for the first time and am trying to remember names and
home countries. Then I am driving the old van and trying to find all
the knobs and controls, and navigating by Google maps and paper maps
to get us to places that I've never been and have sketchy directions
for. Matt was my navigator one day and he joked that he would get us
to Bratislava instead of Geneva Point! My phone battery died during
each of the last two days, before we arrived back here, due to so
much use. Plus, the van is so hot! Wednesday's trip was 13 hours, but
my passengers that day were delightful. This so beats every day at
Bethpage!
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| Franconia Nature Walk - making us reminisce about the Pacific Northwest |
Sounds like you've rescued the summer successfully.
ReplyDeleteYes, Furry Gnome, we are feeling much happier in New Hampshire! After all, our home has wheels, so we made use of them!
DeleteThe important thing is that you did something about your situation instead of just putting up with it, the weather in Maine would be so much nicer than Virginia at this time of year, what a bonus!
ReplyDeleteNeither of us wanted to give up too quickly and stuck it out for 2 months, but life's too short and our house has wheels. We stayed longer than we would have since we wanted to be able to have grand-daughter time. She is our only one and already a year and a half. Missing her, but this way she will have happier and fresher grandparents when we see her in a month!
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