Happy Birthday to Me!

The Party Bus

​First, thank you to everyone who sent me birthday greetings. I sincerely appreciate your happy thoughts and well wishes.
 
The day started as any other working day here at Lake Sylvia. I cleaned campsites and prepared sites for the new arrivals. Then came the evening.
 
At 9:30 PM, I received a complaint that someone was running his generator. Running generators are not allowed after 9:00 PM. The camper went on to say that the generator had been running “all day.” Of course, I knew that was an exaggeration, but I kept my mouth shut. When I made my 2:30 PM rounds, no generators were running.
 
Regardless, I walked with the complaining camper to his site and I could hear the generator that he wanted shut down. I went to the offending site and two couples were watching a movie outside on a large flat-screen TV. When I reminded them of the 9:00 PM ban on generators, they said they didn’t realize it was that late and immediately set about shutting their electronics down and turning off the generator. Problem solved. Well maybe.
 
At 10:30 PM, I could still hear loud noises, so I went to investigate. However, they were coming from another direction. This time it was from a site that had a large party bus. It really was an old bus that was converted into an RV. Additionally, there was a van and a large pickup truck with the oversized tires so you need a ladder to crawl into it. (Only a slight exaggeration.) The group was celebrating someone’s birthday or anniversary – I’m not sure which – and alcohol was flowing freely.
 
I had to crash their party and remind them that quiet time begins at 10:00 PM. They would have to wrap up their party. This time the reminder didn’t go down quite as easily as the one for the generator. Nevertheless, I hoped that nothing would develop from the matter.
 
Still, I started thinking about my options because I hadn’t seen a ranger drive though in the evening for several days. Nor had I seen a Montesano Police patrol. My cell phone doesn’t work at the lake and the state park’s office is closed after 4:00 PM.
 
However, one camper at another site had checked in wearing a military-style flak vest with SRT emblazoned on the back. He was also carrying a Glock and several ammo pouches on his belt. I figured that I’d seek his help if things got out of hand with alcohol-fueled revelers. It did cross my mind though that SRT may stand for Search and Rescue Team or Satanic, Rapist Terrorist. I wasn’t sure which.
 
The party settled down though and now I had to address two other sites that had taken their cue from the party bus site. The occupants of one site were singing folk songs a little loud. (They had a site very near the party bus site, so I think they were just trying to be heard.) Once reminded of the quiet time, they reduced their volume.
 
Another site had kids planning a board game. Being typical of excited kids, they were a little noisy. However, they quieted down as soon as I cautioned them.
 
By this time, it was approaching 11:30 PM and well past my bedtime, so I headed to my RV and to bed.

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