work week ends early

Saturday morning we opened the cafe' right on time. Our first customers arrived about 5 minutes later and never stopped. We ended up having our busiest day so far. At 9:30 all the work campers and the owners came in for their breakfasts so we finished the day cooking for them. We ended up having a table of 12 workers to feed :-). The boss came in and told me he appreciated all of hard work and long hours we put in this week and told us to go ahead and take Sunday off ..... with pay! Whoo Hoo, 3 day week end! :-)
We finished cleaning up, closed and locked the doors around 11:00pm. We did have to make a trip back to empty and reload the dishwasher once it finished its cycle because we were so busy all the dishes we used wouldn't fit in one load!
Our daughter Amanda came to visit and have some quiet time. Being a Mom to 3 young children along with working a full time job takes it toll on a person and she needed an hour or two to decompress.

Sunday morning we slept in until 7:30! :-) Our son Matthew called us and wanted us to come to Lafayette and go to a gun show with him. Well alrighty then, guess I raised that boy right!
We made the hour and half drive and met him at the entrance to the show. We looked around at all the guns, ammo and accessories at the different vendors but everything seemed to be way overpriced. We did buy Rudee a new pepper spray canister for her purse. She is not a gun person but wanted something for a little protection. She has carried pepper spray in the past and knows how, and when, to use it. Hopefully she will never have the opportunity.

We have tomorrow and Tuesday off. The plan for tomorrow is to manufacture a PVC clothes line that mounts to the ladder of the 5th wheel. I have the plans that I found on a fellow RVers blog as well as a shopping list for the necessary supplies. I'll try and get some decent photos, it should be an interesting experience. I'll keep you posted.

long week

We have been up early every day this week so we can open the restaurant bright and early. Our day starts at 7:15 when we commute to work via golf cart. The first stop is to feed the donkeys their breakfast and then it is off to the cafe to get everything ready to open up at 8am. The first thing we do is fire up the burners under the the griddle so it can start heating up. Since it has been fairly cool in the mornings I have been building a fire in the fireplace to keep the dining room warm and cozy. Rudee gets the coffee ready while I'm building the fire and then it's time to get the kitchen ready. I have developed a system I like for when I am cooking and have my eggs, bacon, omelet fixings etc all in their specific places ready for me to grab.
Rudee got a couple of photos of me in action :-)

and here is our dining room ready for customers.

We have 2 more days left to cook breakfast this week and then will have 2 days off. We are both pretty beat since we have been working double shifts covering for the boss. Once they return (later tonight) we will be back on our regular schedule. I'll keep you posted.

"if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen"

Saturday morning we were up early and headed to the cafe'. We open at 8am and to make sure everything is ready to go we arrive at 7:30, fire up the griddle and get the coffee percolating. The temps were a little cool so I built a fire in the fireplace to warm the dining room up a little. Our first customers came in shortly after 8am. Rudee played waitress while I handled the kitchen and things started off well. We had a steady flow of customers but no big "rushes". Pancakes seemed to be the most wanted item this morning, The park offers an all you can eat pancake special and children under 12 get free pancakes with each paying adult. The work campers start arriving between 9 and 9:30 for their breakfasts which are provided as part of our compensation. Rudee and I were able to sit down and have our breakfasts with them and then it was time to get everything cleaned up. Dishes had to be washed, floors swept and mopped and the entire kitchen cleaned and sanitized. We finished around 11am and Rudee headed home, she was coming back on duty at 3pm because she had agreed to switch shifts with one of the other ladies. I still had another 1 1/2 hours to work so I headed to the shop to assemble a new portable sprayer. I got that little project completed just in time to fill some propane tanks and escort an early arriving camper to their site. Once that was done my day was over and I headed home.
Rudee went to work in the office at 3pm and the whole operation went to heck in a hand basket. Campers rolled in one right after another and she was busier than a one armed paper hanger! The park has 6 cabins and all of them were taken by families in town for a softball tournament as well as quite a few of the RV spaces. The park was the fullest we have seen it since we arrived and was well over 3/4 full. We expected it to be like this during the warm summer months but not on a cold, wet April weekend. The evening crew handled it well until the Pepsi machine decided it wanted to expel all of the Sierra Mist it had inside it and flooded most of the cafe' with fizzy, sticky puddles of Pop! Rudee called me up to help stop the flood and I was able to get it shut down and helped clean up the mess. This was about the most excitement we have had since we arrived here.
With the increase in business and having to deal with the flood in the cafe' we didn't make it back to the 5er until after 9pm. Rudee was bushed and neither one of us stayed up very long.

Sunday was our day off and our grand kids came for a visit. We had a great day spending time with them and showing them around our new "home".
Monday morning I start cooking breakfasts in the cafe' for the next 7 days straight since the boss man is going to be gone. Should be an interesting week ...... "how do ya want them eggs"? I'll keep you posted.