Border Wars

I was under the impression that states got along with each other.  That cooperation was one of the foundations of our great nation.

Here at J. Strom Thurmond Lake, South Carolina and Georgia have squabbled back and forth over the name of the lake made by the Thurmond Dam which is located between their borders.

On the South Carolina side of the lake, it is called J. Strom Thurmond Lake.   Cross over the dam to Georgia and suddenly the lake’s name becomes Clark’s Hill Lake.  Even the maps in the states have their name choice on them.

It makes it interesting when you are trying to find your way around the area that you’ve never been before.   Today we finished up our grill banging tasks and were sent on to a new one.

All around the lake are day use areas and boat ramps.  Fees are charged for folks to use the areas, but to save the COE money by not staffing the entry points, there are cash boxes where envelopes for payment are available.

Despite the government shutdown, money may not be flowing out of Washington, but they still want that fee money to flow in.

We spent the day driving around restocking these heavy steel boxes with payment envelopes.

The user pulls an envelope out from the side, puts in the money and deposits the envelope in a slot after tearing off a proof of payment tag to hang on the mirror.

The payment boxes needed to have the envelopes restocked.  After unlocking a heavy padlock and removing the box top, we were able to reach inside and place in a new stack of envelopes.  Well, reaching inside after removing cobwebs and the icky spiders that seemed to inhabit most of them.  They must like these dark spaces. Certainly a look before you leap issue.

After “work”, Mike, Terri, Marti and I went over to the one COE campground that is still open.  We went to site 19 where some special friends just arrived.

It is George and Laurie Owen, whom we met at the 2010 RV Dreams Rally and have been friends since then, meeting up several times on the road.

Hopefully, they will be able to stay to the end of their reservation, despite the government shutdown.  We’re all keeping our fingers crossed.

Of course, since Laurie, Mike and I all have blogs and are always on the lookout for new “Blog Fodder”, we were all snapping pictures of each other.  I guess our faces will be showing up on each other’s blogs.

I guess it must be some kind of shared RV DNA.  :c)

As for which name I think the lake should have, I’m sticking with J. Strom Thurmond Lake.  After all, he’s watching me…

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Hey, We’re Easy

Don’t worry, we’re not disappointed in our workamping experience here at Strom Thurmond COE Recreation Area.  There will be plenty of time to get involved in other jobs that we’d like to do during our three month stay here.  Both Marti and I, having supervisory experience in our past careers, understand the necessity of higher priority needs taking the place of personal wishes.

Plus, it’s fun to be out and about this amazing Corps of Engineers recreation location.  We are both amazed at the size and amenities offered here.

Today we continued on our safety inspections of T, T & G (Trees, Tables and Grills).

  

There are literally hundreds of tables and grills located all around Thurmond Lake, with great views.  We looked for loose boards on the tables and rusty grills, some have rusted through, potentially causing burns to unsuspecting persons if coals drop through.

Armed with hammers, Marti and I drove and hiked around one of the huge day use areas, tapping on the bottoms of the grills to ensure their soundness.

Easy work and much more fun that sitting behind a desk, like in Marti’s past career.

Looking sharp in her COE Volunteer vest (I love a woman in uniform), Marti wielded her hammer with expertise.  She even pounded down a bunch of loose nails she found on some picnic tables.  I’m thinking she’s enjoying that hammer!  :c)

We also are keeping our eyes “Ripped” (that’s an Owie word for keeping a sharp lookout) for other problems.  We picked up some trash and also documented the location of a beached buoy for re-setting.

It’s amazing how time has flown while we’ve been out (ahem!) working.  We’ve already finished 18 of our required 20 hours per week and it’s only Tuesday.  I’m thinking we’re going to put in way more hours than required, but we’re having fun, so who cares?  :c)

And Judy, thanks for the offer of borrowing your steel toe boots for lawn cutting duties, but I still have a pair from my Coast Guard days and they still have the spit shine on them! 

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And Our Workamping Job Choices Are…

We had a bunch to choose from.  After much discussion, Marti and I narrowed our choices down to a few, one was collecting recyclables around Strom Thurmond Lake and taking them to the recycling center.  Another was driving all over the place to sporting goods stores and collecting the money for annual park pass sales.  We’d also like to get involved in doing some audits of entry receipts. 

But most of all, I wanted to be doing the job my hero, Forrest Gump did.  Cutting the huge amounts of grass around the Volunteer Village Campground.

After all, they have this really nice John Deere tractor here.  I would be styling, riding that beauty around.  My buddy Rick would be drooling.

Alas, it was not to be.  We did not get to work on any of our choices.  Our ranger supervisor had higher priority work that needed to be done.  When you’re a “highly paid” employee of Corps of Engineers, you do what your boss wants.  The best part was we would do it with Mike and Terri. :c)

Off we went to many locations around the lake.  We conducted a safety inspection of the picnic tables, ensuring there were no loose or broken boards, or missing/loose nails.

We also inspected the barbecue grills at each site.  Over the years the metal can rust out and hot coals could drop out and burn somebody.

Out of the dozens we inspected, we found a few that need replacing.

Most importantly, we looked at the trees around the campsites.  We don’t want to see any trees fall on anyone’s RV, like this one that fell on Bill and Nancy's brand new motorhome when the stayed at the Modoc campground.

No, we checked all those items very carefully.  Nobody’s going to get hurt or squashed on our watch!  :c)

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