This afternoon our retail supervisor called to ask if we could cover the last couple of hours of his shift, he had a migraine and needed to rest.

Esme and I drove down through the park to the camp store and although it was sunny there were just a handful of cars in the beach parking lot. Which is no real surprise, this being the last day of September.

We were both feeling a bit gloomy about spending our afternoon in the camp store and looking for a reason to close early, but a steady trickle of customers kept us at the till.

A friendly pair of sisters spending the weekend reminiscing about their childhood summers in the campground, needed some cards for cribbage and souvenir hats. 

A couple of groups of grade school kids looking for an end of season ice creams. Some mid teen brothers fresh from the lake, looking for sugary treats and a plush toy for their little sister. 

An extra-long handle for making jiffy pop over a campfire, went home with a young father towing two beautiful little tykes with dirty camping faces and pine tar stains on their hands; reminded me of the many childhood camping trips I made with my sisters.

These moments, snapshots of park life, family, friends and fun could have easily been missed, if we had just shut the door early.

Extra revenue is important, but the most important thing is guest experience, and if you're lucky a little of that late summer magic will rub off on you.

Hans J Petersen