Where Has The Summer Gone?

The leaves are beginning to turn, and there is a definite chill in the air. The fireweed has topped out; a sure sign that winter is on its way...I've even seen some geese beginning to congregate in preparation for their flight south.

We will have been here four months and have witnessed spring, summer and fall, all from within the confines of this campground. The tourists in May were few; whereas June brought them from everywhere in the lower 48. With the month of July came an influx of Europeans, and the first two weeks of August were consumed with fair vendors and fairgoers. We are still seeing plenty of Europeans, most of whom speak no English, as we head towards September.

But, there is a feeling of unrest amongst our long term campers who have been with us all summer. It is probably the sense of the inevitable winter months ahead and the need to arrange for other accommodations now.

One family, a father and his two sons, are purchasing their airplane tickets to Kauai, Hawaii where they will live. They will leave in 10 days. Another family; husband, wife, two children....I don't believe they have anywhere else to go as of yet. The two single men in campsite 'B' are hurrying to get an apartment, and the family in Site 31 are probably trying to find somewhere to move their Toyota Dolphin Class C to.

One thing everyone is sure of. Winter is coming, and in Fairbanks it comes early.

Now, THAT'S a Zucchini!

BlackJack & the zucchini

19" in length

Flowers are really blooming now!

The zucchini was given to us by the caretaker of the Fairgrounds. 19" in length! I have no idea how I will be able to use it all of it....zucchini bread, zucchini chocolate cake, fried zucchini, baked zucchini? Wow!

Our daughter and her fiance will be traveling with us out of Alaska, all the way to Tacoma, WA. where they will pick up their vehicles which are being shipped, along with our jeep. No double towing for us through BC this time. We will probably have them follow us to Arizona, where they are moving.

For us, on to New Mexico for October, Texas in November, Yuma and Quartzsite, December and January, then Baja, Mexico for the duration of the winter months. That is our plan thus far, always subject to change, of course. The beauty of fulltiming.

As the temperatures cool down....

Our thoughts turn quickly south. The fair is over, the vendors have left and the campground is empty. We are hoping for more tourists to come through as we have till mid September yet. Personally, I would start down the highway and get the heck out before the snow starts to fly, but a little more revenue means more money in our pocket.

The 10 days of the fair brought some interesting people this way, and we had a couple incidents, like kids stealing bikes, and the typical freeloaders, but all in all, it went pretty smooth.

The Fair is in full Swing

The vendors have arrived, the campground is full, and all is well. It's frankly not as 'crazy' as we were told it would be. Because we are full with all vendors, they are gone during the day working their booths, and we have only a couple tent sites to rent out, so the work is minimal.
Nighttime is always a different story though. We still get the knocks on our door at all hours..."here's my situation", "someone is in my sight", "the laundry room is locked", etc. all, despite the sign on our door "Host is OFF duty". One guy said, "Oh, I didn't know what that sign meant." (Duh!).

We are beginning to think about where we will go when we leave here. We are only a month away....YAY!! Wherever the sun is shining and the temperature is above 75 will be fine with us.
Most likely, Arizona first, and will go from there. No schedule, no concrete plan....relaxing is our number one priority.

Brown Barbecue

Okay, not such a great picture of Karen...
the photographer didn't do so good.
But good of the rest of the clan.


Terri and her 'helper', BlackJack


Mike and Terri brought all the fixings for a barbecue! They all came to the campground, because it's difficult for us to leave (fair time). Terri even 'made' chocolate chip cookies, complete with her own label, 'Fred Meyer'. Mike barbecued the hamburgers, we got to meet Justin's girlfriend, Meagan....food was great, the company even better! The rain stayed away for the evening, and the campers left us alone...what a nice break.

Terri always tends to my flowers when she comes by, and last night she had a little help from her friend.