A Day At The Park

 Happy Father's Day at the Elks RV Park in Merced.  Located not far off Highway 99, it's the perfect spot for peace and quiet.  Probably even better than at MY house.  Anyone can stay here, but Elk Member prices are a little less.  Call for reservations.

We have quite a few events out here, including our Stag picnic (ribeye steaks for Elks members only) which just happened last month, and now our Father's Day Picnic.  Here's our latest addition ... the ELK.  A little hard to see since he's black metal.  Behind him are I think 35 spaces with 50 amp, most all of which have full hookups.  There is a dump station at the entrance if you need it.   

They have horseshoe pits and just put in a bocce ball court past these trees.  There's also nice bathrooms and a laundry room if you need it.  This picture is before the crowd came.  

Since everything except the drinks was free for your entire family, they cooked up hamburgers and hot dogs with all the fixings, along with whatever salads people brought.  

Just a note here, do you know how long it takes to peel ten pounds of potatoes?  I just found out.  The only thing I had big enough to cook in was my gigantic canner.  I knew there was a reason I kept that thing.  It also took an ENTIRE huge bottle of mayonnaise, 18 eggs, a whole bottle of pickles,  3 cans of olives and 2 bundles of green onions. 

Many people bring their own easy-ups and even tables, setting them up under the trees for shade.  

Our little group stayed under the two sided building where the overhead fans were.  We also pick the last table on the end because it's gets the breeze.  Not that it was that hot, it wasn't.  Remove the tables and you have a pickle ball court.

In the end, lunch wasn't all that great, but as I said, it was free.  They didn't heat up the buns, so they were not the least bit soft, the hamburgers were barely 1/4" thick and my nice big hot dog was cold in the middle in spite of being barbecued.  

It was okay though, since we filled up on deviled eggs and potato salad.  This is just a bit I kept at the house.  Note to self ... don't do that again.  Good grief ... I was so full of potato salad that I was miserable all night long.  It brought on terrible dreams of Cooper and Jessie running away in the mountains and I couldn't find them.  I woke up crying.  Well that wasn't fun!!  No more potato salad for YOU!

Is this not the funniest picture of him you have seen?  I laughed as I gave him a GREAT BIG HUG!!  

As the sun began to set and it cooled off a bit, we both went outside to check the garden.

MORE bounty.  Good grief ... I have so many little tomatoes, I can't eat them all.  I knocked on my neighbor's door, set them on the ground and RAN!!  They called later to say they KNEW who left them and thanked me profusely.  YAY!!  I won't have to throw any away if I can pawn them off on my neighbor!

The night ended with weird skies and I pondered my next project.  I've got twelve boxes of boysenberries to squish, along with 3 pounds of olallieberries in the freezer.  

I haven't done this in AGES ... making jam that is.  I remember juicing berries when I was a kid ... pomegranates I think it was.  Oh I've made lots of jam, but not from berries I had to crush.  

It's okay ..... it's an EXPERIMENT!!!  Wish me luck!