I’m
back! Did you miss me! It’s been a while since I posted because I've been a bit peeved. You see, it has been a disappointing and
unprecedented work-camping season for us. And my
parents did something they have never done before—they breached their
contractual agreement, quitting a gig after only 5 weeks.
You
may recall that after their debacle with the Grand Teton Association (see blog post of May 3, 2018, "What About Employers' Obligations to Work-campers?), my
parents accepted positions as “campground hosts” for Forest Recreation
Management, the concessionaire for Black Hills National Forest in South
Dakota. Although the ad and job
description forwarded to Mom listed cleaning/site maintenance as a duty, tasks
also included fee collection and firewood sales. As it turned out, my parents were the last
hosts hired for the Pactola Lake location and therefore were assigned as the dedicated
cleaning crew, responsible for maintaining 25 toilets and 80 campsites, as well
as two boat docks, a beach area, and a 40-person group campground located on a
remote mountaintop 10 miles away. Quite
a bit of territory to cover both mileage wise as well as for prioritizing daily
tasks.
Though
not thrilled with working with the Tidy Bowl Man, my parents went along with
the arrangement. After all, every job
has its perks and quirks. They worked
independently and generally were done by 4 p.m. daily, leaving evenings free to
socialize with friends and for participating in all the musical and theater events held in the area during the summer. We were in a beautiful setting, and
these gorgeous hills afforded us ample opportunities to fish, off-road, and
ride our motorcycles.
Unfortunately,
the quirks of the job were too important to ignore. The lead host (my parents’ immediate
supervisor) was incapable of communicating and/or just refused to share
important reservation information which was imperative for my parents to
establish their daily priorities. (Most campgrounds, like the three my Mom worked in, are run like hotels, where there is communication between the reservations department and the cleaning department. Not at this place!) More
importantly, the lead host exhibited misogamy toward Mom and at least one of
the other two women on the hosting team. What was this guy thinking? Dismissing Mom from a conversation and treating her like a second class citizen since she was a woman just wasn't going to fly! Add to this ugly recipe a general disorganization
and disregard for employee safety by management. (My parents were issued a vehicle to use that
had an expired/invalid insurance card, had a parking light out, had a brake
light out, had a tire that continuously lost air, and the vehicle repeatedly would
not restart after they shut off the ignition between locations. After 5 weeks, none of these issues were
resolved other than receiving a current/valid insurance card).
My
parents don’t mind working hard, but they downright refuse to work stupid and risk their safety. Hence, their decision to leave. It was a tough thing to do, since my parents
always honor their commitments. (They
remind me of Dr. Seuss’s Horton the Elephant, “I meant what I said, I said what
I meant; an elephant’s faithful 100%”).
But they could no longer tolerate the disregard and disrespect
exhibited. Seemingly, neither could my parents’ successors. We learned that since my parents resigned,
the company went through three additional cleaning crews, all of which lasted
less than 2 weeks. (Now that it is so
late in the season, one of the original campground hosts is doing double duty,
handling the cleaning as well as fee collection/firewood sales.)
Always landing on their feet, Mom
and Dad were offered and subsequently accepted positions at Crazy Horse
Memorial in Custer, SD, where they enjoyed a prior work gig in Summer
2015. I'll tell you more about it in another blog post.
Despite
the bad work experience, we enjoyed the Black Hills of South Dakota during our
tenure at Pactola Lake. Most of the
employers in the Black Hills offer V.I.P. passes to employees, giving them free
or discounted rates for area attractions, and we took full advantage of this
perk during our downtime. We saved
several hundred dollars on admissions in 2015, and plan to maximize our savings
again this year, visiting several attractions that we missed or were not
offered in 2015.
So
we met Stan, Sue, and the gang of dinosaur skeletons that reside at the Museum
at Black Hills Institute, located conveniently on Main Street in the heart of
Hill City, right next to the laundromat.
So multi-task we did, doing laundry and touring all within the same time
frame. Though a small venue, the Museum
has some fine paleontological specimens, everything pre-historic from fossils
to minerals. The staff were friendly and
informative, making this a great area attraction for all ages.
While in Hill City,
we met friends Cheryl and Jukka to have them sign
our recently-purchased copy of their book, Hiking
Centennial Trail and to wish them well with their writing/publishing endeavors! We
put the book to good use, taking our side-by-side Rat Patrol to various trailhead locations to hike different sections of the trail throughout the early summer.
I also got acquainted with a new canine. Meet Macie, the Motorcyling Pomeranian! What a cutie!
I
especially enjoyed our visit to Old McDonald’s Farm. Family owned and operated for 30+ years, this
is a great place for children of all ages to interact with animal life. There are pony rides, pig races, and train
rides--very old school. The animals are very smart,
knowing just when it is feeding time. I
even got to bottle feed several baby animals.
The animals all had their own little personalities, exhibiting several
of the seven deadly sins like gluttony, greed, and envy. I was amused by the behavior of one
particular pony. He was outraged and
quite jealous when I stopped feeding him and went to feed the pygmy goats in the next pen. The pony went to the
corner of his pen that connected with the pygmy goat stall and hit his hoof on
the fence several times to get my attention, as if to say “hey, come back!”
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That's me in the caboose! |
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Here is one peeved pony! Notice the stink eye he is giving me! |
Another
top notch attraction is Reptile Gardens, in business since 1937.
They have wonderful and imaginative reptile, rodent, and bird exhibits, including an underground entry observation dome for visitors to "become one" with the prairie dogs! Additionally, the
grounds are a horticultural paradise--beautiful, colorful gardens abound. Dad loved the snake show, me not so much
since I learned I am a favorite dinner entrée for these slinkers! I did
enjoy the croc and alligator show, and found it amazing how ever these creatures
can be trained/conditioned with food.
Speaking of food, we topped off our day with a delicious meal at
Powder House Lodge in Keystone, one of the only restaurants in the area that
has an array of game meat on its menu.
Mom and I savored the game kabobs, featuring bison, elk, and
venison. Though just an appetizer, it is
plentiful enough to be an entrée. Don’t
eat game meat? No problem. Steaks, prime rib, and vegetarian options are
offered as well. Dad enjoyed a
delectable portabella mushroom sandwich with avocado mash. A full belly is always the perfect ending to a fun-filled day.
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I couldn't resist this innovated way to observe the prairie dogs! Luckily, the dome was spacious enough for my big head!  |
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Notice the baby turtle in the photo! |
One
of my favorite tours was the old Homestake Gold Mine in Lead, SD,
once the biggest gold mine in the Western Hemisphere. Even during the Great Depression, Homestake
Mine prospered, no easy feat when you consider that one ton of rock produced only 1/7th ounce of gold. A drop in gold prices in the late 1990s was the
Mine’s demise. The Mine closed in 2001,
after extracting 41 million ounces of gold and 9 million ounces of silver from its
370 miles of shafts/tunnels. And yet,
only 1/3 of all its potential was ever achieved! Spearheaded by Ray Davis with a cash infusion
from T. Denny Sanford, the property became the home of the Sanford Underground
Research Facility in 2006. Studying neutrinos,
dark matter, and conducting various physics experiments, this is a place that
Sheldon Cooper and his nerdy friends from Big Bang Theory would call paradise.
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The Open Cut of Homestake Mine |
We
completed a short walking tour of Lead.
During its heyday, Lead’s population was over 10,000. Now it has just 2,800 residents, all of which
are considered members of the Mile High Club because the city’s elevation is one mile above sea level. At that elevation,
it is no wonder that Lead receives 200-300 inches of snow per year, earning it
the record for the second highest volume of snowfall within the contiguous US.
We visited the Homestake Opera House, built in 1914 as a cultural and
recreational hall by the Homestake Mining Company. It contained a library, theater, indoor
swimming pool, bowling alley, and smoking rooms. The Opera House suffered a major fire in 1984
and has been going through painstaking restorations to bring it to its original
glory. I thoroughly enjoyed taking this
tour and hope we can attend one of the variety of events the Opera House hosts
throughout the year.
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The stage area |
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The lobby |
We
visited the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Museum. I never realized just how many of the
amenities and trails within our National and State Parks were attributed to the
building and construction efforts of the CCC.
We
participated in our second Volksmarch hike to the top of Crazy Horse Mountain. This time my parents didn’t indulge
me with the purchase of a completion medallion, but I still enjoyed participating
in the hike. The views of the Black
Hills from the top of the Mountain are spectacular, and it is always a thrill
to get face-to-face with what will be the world’s largest sculpture.
We
spent a fun day in Hot Springs. Driving
there, I amused myself by looking at the rain clouds that were forming. So many unique shapes (I discovered
barracudas and the profile of a mountain man complete with beard and whiskers!)
and a range of colors, from off white, to elephant gray, to charcoal gray. Although
we have been there before, it is always intriguing to tour the paleontological Mammoth
Site, the sinkhole that contains the remains of 61 mammoths. Interestingly, all the mammoths in the
sinkhole were males. They should have
listened to their wives, who all managed to avoid their own demise.
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The remains of the male mammoths |
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What a mammoth would look like BEFORE falling into the sinkhole and decomposing! |
There’s a cute place in Hot Springs called “A Museum
of Childhood”, filled with vintage toys and memorabilia. In a few more years, I may qualify to be in
this museum! After all, I am a 35-year
old stuffed rat! We had fun reminiscing
with the owner of days gone by, and wish her much success with her retirement
endeavor! We
finished up our day with dinner at the Bull N Bugle in Custer with friends
Phil, Rudee, Nicholas, Larry, Sue, Karen, and Pete, followed by attending a
theater performance at the Black Hills Playhouse. Such fun times!
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Mom was once the proud owner of Miss Echo and Kissy dolls as displayed in the museum! |
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Grandma was so safety conscious, she would remove the wires from Mom's Gumby and Pokey! Crazy but lovable woman she was! |
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Friends from Crazy Horse enjoying dinner and theater together at Black Hills Playhouse |
Wildlife
has been abundant here in the Black Hills, and love is in the air.
I watched two rabbits heeding The Beatles
advice, “why don’t we do it in the road”.
Deer lounge on front lawns throughout the day like house cats napping on
doorsteps. A female turkey was rounding
up her flock of new babies, and a gaggle of baby geese were learning to
swim! We actually saw a swarm of butterflies all huddled together!
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One very satisfied bunny! |
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These goslings just returned from a swim lesson with their Moms! |
Mom
decided to take up fishing with me and Dad.
After all, we purchased an annual SD family fishing license for Dad and
me. Dad exhibited casting techniques to
Mom, informing her it takes a while to get the hang of it. Mom’s second attempt at casting a rod nets her
a small perch. Must be beginners’ luck
since she is equipped only with a $12.94 Wal-Mart pole.
Well,
I’ve rambled on enough. Time to sign off
now. I've got so much more to tell you about, so I'll be sure to talk to you again soon!
We would like to thank the following organizations for all the great service and support they offer to the RVing community:
Xscapers
RVillage
RV Dreams
