Five Years and a Fish Story

Today is our five year anniversary of full time RVing. Those five years seem to have flown by. As I look back, we have done some travelling to new places, and revisited some favorite places. We’ve spent wonderful quality time with family and friends. Our stress levels have gone way down, and we feel healthier than when we were in the full time work world.

When we started this adventure, we were ten years younger than the average retirement age. We’re now at the half way mark of those ten years, and are so happy we made this decision. For us, it has been a fantastic time. I can’t wait to see what the next five years bring.

This past week was very interesting in a fishy sort of way. You may recall, that I mentioned in last year’s posts that there was a company that was hauling carp out of Beaver Dam Lake, where our park is located. They estimated that they harvested over two million pounds of carp last year.

This week the big flat boats with the nets were back. They came to the bay where our park is located. The first day they dropped their huge net into the lake. One side of the net is anchored to the shore, and then they drag the net out into the lake in a half circle. Once it has been let all the way out, they start pulling it back in, and the fish are pulled closer to shore.  Clicking on the picture will enlarge it. You can then see a boat way out in the lake. That’s how far out the net was, and they had already started hauling it back in.

They kept pulling the net in until they had all the fish rounded up into this cage type structure. You could see the fish jumping around in there.

The next day they came back and started pulling fish out of the cage. Two guys were in the water with large nets and two guys in the boat were pulling them in. One of the guys told me they pulled about 15,000 pounds out that day. Any fish caught in the cage that are not carp, are thrown back into the lake.

Its amazing how much weight those boats can hold. These guys sure work hard. Air temperature that day was around 60 degrees, but that water is still quite cold. I wonder how you find a job harvesting carp.

Here are some of the fish they harvested. Carp are a real problem in many area lakes, and the DNR and local fishermen are thrilled to have them taken out of the lakes. These fish are put on ice and shipped by truck to Chinatown in New York where they are eaten. Funny how a fish that is a blight to us is a treat to others.

Kevin and I are getting into the routine of our jobs here at the park. This is Kevin’s fifth year as park caretaker. He works mainly during the week. I’m learning the ropes of my new job as park attendant. The majority of my hours are on the weekend being available to help people register and selling wood. It’s a pretty easy job, but we are pretty tied down on the weekends.

We really like it here at this quiet and peaceful park. We’d much rather both work here during the summer than go back to Amazon. Although Amazon was a great way to make some quick cash, our work here is much easier.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!