Season's Heatings

It happened again...I haven't posted in a month!
I always mean to, but it is difficult when I am rarely home to do so!

Over the last week in July, I went camping with the Pueblo crew. Normally they don't camp, but this project would have made for a long commute so camping just made sense!
It was interesting teaching a group how to camp (according to MHYC policies and practices). Some of the crew members had never even been camping before!
We worked for the little town of Williamsburg. We built the city park a nice little loop trail and helped revamp and set up the new playground areas.

section of trail and stairs in progress

Putting up hoops was much more difficult than we anticipated!

Awesome steps the team built!

We worked 4 10-hour days, which were very hot and long! After that, I said farewell to the Pueblo crew. They only had one more week left, and I was about to head out on a 10 day trip!

My next hitch was with the saw crew. We worked in a state wildlife area near Raton, New Mexico. We were working inside the Colorado border, but just barely! The park was very beautiful- we first did a fencing project on top of a huge mesa, and the rest of the hitch we were deep in the woods building a new trail!

View from our camp site- New Mexico starts at the lake!

Fencing project

View from fencing site

Elk herd on our morning drive

Starting the trail

Huge rock wall/walkway we built!

There were some great views at our work sites. We could see for miles from atop the mesa! One day we also drove alongside a huge herd of elk! The area we built the trail in was also very pretty. There was only a small burned section from a fire about a year ago. Most of the forest was green and untouched- it was a nice change of scenery from the barren burned woods we've been used to working in!
The work was also different from what the saw crew was used to. It was the last hitch of the summer, and the first time they had ever worked on building a trail. There was a lot of learning as we went, but everyone got the hang of it pretty quickly.

On Friday, August 10th after we got back from our hitch, it was the last day of the summer season and the corps olympics! All of the Denver and Co Springs MHYC crews came together for a big and fun day in the park! We played lots of field games, reflected on the summer, and had a big cookout! It was a good way to end the summer, but it was a sad day too- there were lots of people to say bye to!

I love these people

As if camping for almost 2 weeks and ending my summer work season wasn't tiring enough, that Friday night Ben and I took off on our road trip adventure! I had a week off between our summer and fall seasons and Ben took a week off so we could go adventuring! Ben's boss was very generous and gave him permission to drive his work truck- which comes with free gas! We drove all through the night and arrived in Steuben, Wi (by Prairie du Chien) on Saturday morning! We were pretty exhausted (mostly me) but it was totally worth it! We were having our annual "crash at Kamerons' parent's place for a few days to hang with lots of college freinds" weekend! We met up with Kameron, Harris (Sarah Jean) and her boyfriend Brynte, Colton, Steph, Meghan, Nick, and Matt! We had a great time catching up, hiking, watching meteors, and having campfires! I miss all those guys so much- it is hard living so far away from such great friends.

On Monday we headed out to Cedarburg! We got to see my family, all the pets, and all of the other craziness that goes on there (daycare kids, tenants, pet guests, cousins)! And, I got to see my lovely wifey friend Amanda! It was quite the change of pace for us! It was so wonderful to see my family, I miss them a lot too!
Thursday we went to Northfield, Mn to see Ben's family! We saw lots of relatives and ate lots of great food! Somehow, we also ended up with a lot of gifts and other items to take home with us- including beautiful woodcraft made by Ben's grandpa, a camera, Ben's drum set, and an adorable kitten! We have thought of hundreds of names so far. As of now, her name is Nymeria! We think she is about 7 or 8 weeks old.

Thanks for the picture, Tonyia!

We left on Sunday morning and headed back west! Now we are all home, safe and sound, with over 2500 miles behind us! We unloaded the truck, went to bed, and now have been at work ever since (is how it feels, anyway).  Although, it can't all be bad, Ben got a raise and I got a new position and a little raise too!
For the fall crew (only 1 crew in our Co Springs office) I'm going to be the mentor. It is similar to what I did over the summer, but I get to assist the crew leader more and provide education for the crew each week. This means I am going to be even more busy and away from home more than usual! Eep!

I have to go now, kitten snuggles are calling....

In the heat of July

After I got back from Trinidad, Ben got flowers to welcome me home! I forgot to put it in my last blog post, and I wanted to show them off!

Anyway, the week of July 9-13 I was back in the Hayman area. The first part of the week we worked on erosion control matting. The jute matting comes in big rolls. After we rake down the slopes and seed them with native grasses, we roll down the matting, bury the edges, and stake down the matting. Finally we put on slash (twigs, branches, and brush) and transplant some plants into the matting.

In process of putting down jute matting

Midweek, we did lots of weeding around the park. The fire ban was still in effect, so there were limitations on our chainsaw use, which prevented us from building headcuts because we weren't able to cut down the dead trees to fill them with. Weeding was certainly not as exciting as our other tasks, but still definitely important. After the fire in 2002, plants started to slowly grow back in through the burn area. Unfortunately, invasive plants/weeds tend to grow in first and outcompete the native plants (that can provide food and habitat for animals and better control erosion). Removing the invasive plants allows the chance for the native ones to grow in (especially after we spread seed and plant baby trees in the area).  The weeds we removed were toad flax, ox-eyed daisy, mullein, russian thistle, canada thistle, and musk thistle.

mullein

Mareya and Toad Flax

Russian Thistle

Musk Thistle (and bumble bee!)

ox-eyed daisy

Not a weed, but there were delicious raspberries all over the woods! 

Later in the week, we were finally able to go back to our scheduled work- head cuts! As per the fire ban regulations, we had to have some someone follow the sawyer (person running the chainsaw) with a fire extinguisher. Most of the time, I got that job because I was the guest and odd one out on the team. It was fun actually running around finding unsafe trees and watching them get cut down. We also got a special treat one day, some of the board members came with our boss Nancy to see the work we were doing. It was really fun to get to explain and show off our work! We do all the work in the woods and when we are done, it looks like nothing was ever there- no one ever sees it!

Working on three adjacent headcuts

Overall, it was a very hot, tiring, and fun week- as always!

The weekend after I got back, we all had lots of fun! I did some shopping with Ashley, and we all went to see the new spiderman movie. Bill had to leave on Sunday for work in Oklahoma. It's been a quiet week since he left. 

This past week (16th-19th) I worked with the Pueblo crew at a park in Pueblo building trails. I was sent down to fill in for their crew mentor who was out on a work related injury (nothing major, just muscle strain from over exerting himself). I worked along side the crew, provided them an hour of education each day, and I also had to give a little tough love! The crew has been getting their projects done, but they haven't been working with much motivation and drive. They got a little upset with me for my scoldings and encouragements, but they came together as a group and got through it. The Pueblo crew only works day shifts (not camping) so I had some early mornings and long days to get down there and work with them. On Wednesday I had to get up at 3:45! We did some awesome work on the trail, and even built some sweet new stone stairs! 

Stairs!

View from the trail

It was a long and tough week, but I got some great feedback from my superiors and got offered a new position for the fall! I was already going to be working though October, but my new position as the fall crew's mentor will give me more responsibility, possibly a raise, and a contract that goes into November. I'm really excited about the fall season (starts August 20th) and my new position, but I found out that I'm going to be camping every week (whether I took the mentor position or not) and it is going to be very hard to be away from Ben and home so much! 

On Friday I worked in the office getting ready for the Pueblo crew's first and only camping trip that I'll be going on next week. There was lots of shopping and packing to do! It should be an interesting week because they've never worked and camped before, but they're a tough group so they should get through it just fine! 

On Friday morning, as you've all heard, the shooting in the movie theater happened. The theater is not far from our house and Ben and I had recently seen a movie there. I can't wrap my head around what happened at all, and thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. Thanks to everyone who checked in on us and are praying for the victims. It's hard being so close to something so awful.

Friday night we had tacos with Justin and Ashley and watched Batman Begins. Saturday, Ashley and I volunteered with the Mile High Weimereiner rescue and hung out with a bunch of awesome dogs at a meet and greet for potential adopters! It was fun, but very hot! Meanwhile, Ben and Justin went skeet shooting at the park by our house. Afterwards, we met up at Justin and Ashley's house, grilled out and watched the Dark Knight movie. We then went to see the new Batman movie. It was a good movie, but it was also so heartbreaking to think of the shooting while we were there. 

Today Ben and I had a lazy day around the house, did lots of chores, and I've been packing up for my camping trip that I start tomorrow!

The Rest of June

On Monday (6/18), it was back to work for us! I had a very long day in the office with the saw crew, or, sawyers. We were getting trained to spray pesticide. In order to handle the chemicals for our upcoming job, we had to become verified applicators. This training involved 8 hours of reading legal documents, and that was just the first day! On Tuesday we embarked on our epic journey to Trinidad, Co! A very exotic name, for a not very exotic place.  Ben was able to get up nice and early with me to drop me off at the office, which allowed him to use the car for the ten days I was going to be gone. And it was great to have some extra time together before my long hitch. I then hopped in the van with the 10 sawyers and we had a two and a half hour drive down to Trinidad Lake state park where our work site was. At midday we got to our campsite, which was VERY hot and sunny, rather small, but it was least near a lake!

Our campsite

 We set up our tents, and then drove to our work site, which was in a more remote area of the park. Finally, we could begin our task of cutting down and spraying herbicide on tamarisk! Tamarisk, also known as salt cedar, is an invasive species that is very prevalent here. The main problem with tamarisk is that it grows very well here, and loves to drink lots of water! The larger plants can drink up to 300 gallons of water a day, which is a very big deal here, where water is a more scarce resource (especially in this drought we are having!). I had the pleasure of being one of the primary applicators. I had wear one of the sprayer backpacks filled with 3 gallons of chemicals, whoo! After an hour I was ready to take that thing off- it was so heavy and uncomfortable! We made it through the first (half) day, and had to head back to camp and finish up our oh so exciting pesticide training. After another couple hours we were finally done!

Every day we got up at 5 am (or 430 for the breakfast/wake-up crew rotation: we all took turns doing camp chores such as wake-up, tool maintenance, cooking dinner, and doing dishes.), ate breakfast/packed lunches, and then headed to the park maintenance building to pick up some more habitat- our lovely blue liquid chemical we were working with! Then we would drive our to our work site, wade across the river, and  then hike a mile or so to where we were working. We then spent our day cutting tamarisk with loppers (and very rarely, chainsaws), collecting and piling up the branches, and then spray the stumps with the habitat herbicide. The days were very long, tedious, and hot (usually between 95-105 each day and we had to wear long pants and sleeves)! Luckily, we started early enough that we got off a little earlier to beat the heat! And, the saw crew is a great group of people, so we were able to keep each other entertained throughout the long days!
We also saw some cool wildlife, including horny toad lizards and a rattlesnake that was outside out leader's tent!

In the evenings/afternoons we had time to nap, play cards, spend time near the lake, and do lots of reading! One night, we even had a girls'night and watched Pride and Prejudice on someone's iPad! Most of the crew was very interested in reading- especially the Game of Thrones book series. I also took part in the reading parties and read the first Game of Thrones book on my nook! I learned a few new card games, including one called Rook that I really liked and hope to get a deck of my own soon! I also had a lot of fun at the lake! The two girls of the crew and I had a nice time sunbathing and wading in the lake, and we all had fun jumping in and swimming around a bit to cool off a few times (although we weren't supposed to!). Another lake activity I enjoyed  was fishing! I bought a pole and some tackle and went out several afternoons with some other crew members and got very sunburned! We did catch a few fish and eat them, but most were too small to keep. We were catching rainbow trout and large mouth bass. 
The crew consists of 8 great goofy guys and two girls! I think they were happy to have me around this hitch! Sometimes, it was like being back with all my guy friends in college. I even gave a few much needed haircuts!
On Saturday of our hitch we took a half day to have a little weekend! We went  swimming in a (very shallow and muddy) river near our work site, a few of us drove over to another campsite to take showers, and in the evening we went into the town of Pueblo to have pizza and go see the Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter movie! It made for a very fun and much needed break! 


Finally, on Thursday, our 10th day, we drove back to the office! We were very surprised to see lots of smoke as we drove up- several wildfires had started in the area while we were away. We had heard they were happening, but it was totally different to see it in person. Sadly, one of the crew members' houses burned down. Her roommates were able to grab some of her things before they were evacuated, but she still lost a lot. I've never felt so close to a natural disaster before- it was a very powerful experience. 
I got a ride home with a coworker who was headed up to the airport, and she stayed with us over night. It was so wonderful to be home, see Ben, and get clean! And Ben got me flowers to welcome me home! It was very sweet and they were very beautiful.

The weekend after I got back, on the 30th of June, we got to see Ben's family! They were on their family vacation out west, and we were able to meet up for a night. We went to Cold Springs National forest campground near Blackhawk, Colorado and camped with them for a night. We played some games and were able to spend lots of time together and get caught up! We also went on a lovely hike!

Picture stolen from Tonyia!

That Sunday was our one year wedding anniversary! The year has gone by so fast! We voted for a quieter evening to celebrate, and went to one of our favorite restaurants- The Bent Noodle for dinner and went to see the new Wes Anderson movie, Moonrise Kingdom afterwards. It was a very lovely and relaxing date night.

My work week over the first week of July was much more quiet than previous ones! On Monday I was helping around the office and we drove down to Pueblo to check on the crew and drop off some paperwork. On Tuesday I worked from home to do research for educational resources. Wednesday I had off for the 4th of July. Thursday and Friday I worked in the Denver office doing more education research. It was a slow week to get through, but it was made much better by my family coming to visit!
On Tuesday night my family came into town and stayed over night. On Wednesday we went to the zoo for the 4th! That night, we drove to Broomfield and met up with Justin and Ashley to watch the fireworks. It was a very big day and a very late night for a work night! The next couple days my family went camping in Rocky Mountain National Park while we all finished up our work weeks. We were supposed to camp with them on Friday and Saturday night, but it was very stormy! We've been in a drought and haven't seen rain in months, but as soon as my family visits it starts storming all day and night! It was much needed rain, but it was a little disappointing because it wrecked their trip plans a bit. And, I was sad because the smoke from all the fires around was blocking our normally crystal clear mountain views, and on top of that our usual all- day  sunshine was nowhere to be found. At least the temperature went down some with the rain! This past weekend they ended up cutting their trip short and coming back to our house. We played lots of games and still had lots of fun- just inside! We did try to take a hike in Cherry Creek State park, but the clear skies turned very dark unexpectedly and we ended up getting soaked while we were trying to get back to our apartment!
Ben left for Montana early this morning for work, and my family left to go home this morning as well. Bill and I did some errands today (he got a very fancy new car stereo!) and I packed up for my hitch I'm leaving for tomorrow morning!

Phew! This month has been jam packed and went by so quickly! And, I'm leaving the house tomorrow (7/9) at 5 am to leave for my 5 day hitch with the Hayman crew again!
Hopefully I'll be able to find a spare minute to write again this month!

First Half of June

 After preparing for the orientation in Pueblo the previous week, the first week of June was dedicated to training in the Pueblo crew. I worked very long days with that 2 hour commute! It was fun to get to know people on the crew and to see some of the plans I made in action! It was a little tedious at first, because now this was the third time I had been through the two days worth of paper work- once for my own orientation, once for the other three crews' orientation, and now for the Pueblo orientation. We made it through though, especially with the help from my ice breaker and team building games! There was lots of time for me to fill up with activities throughout the week, and it was nice having a little extra time to have some fun. 

On Friday night, the 9th, Bill and I somewhat secretly flew to Wisconsin! It was our cousin Jon's wedding. He and his wife Imane (E-man) are already married, but their ceremony was in Canada, and none of our family was able to make it. It was great to finally meet Imane- she is lots of fun and fits right into the family! The ceremony was on Saturday and we stayed until Sunday night. The weekend was filled with lots of fun, family, games, singing, and of course lots of food! It was so wonderful to see lots of family- many people I hadn't seen since our own wedding last year.

Aunt Becky, Imane, Jon, and Uncle Kirk

After flying into Denver late Sunday night, I had a very early morning heading to work! I had five days of camping ahead of me, I had to get to the office by 630 (leave by 515), and I didn't even know which crew I was going out with! Once I got to work, I found out I was going with the Hayman crew. This crew works exclusively in Pike National forest in the Hayman burn area- a forest fire that occurred ten years ago that was the largest in Colorado history. There are thousands of burned acres in the forest where there is now large amounts of erosion occurring because of the lack of trees and other plants to hold the soil onto the mountain. Our job was to cut down trees (our MHYC saw crew and another conservation group did the cutting) and cut up downed trees (all dead, burned, and crispy trees) and build erosion control structures called head cuts. 

Head cut in progress

Normally, there are more trees and plants to act as obstacles and to drink the water as it goes down. Without these plants, as water trickles down the mountainsides it comes together into big streams and cuts away the loose soil. This erosion can lead to many problems, such as filling in reservoirs with soil. Our job was to fill in these big stream ways to prevent the streams from forming, which in turn, reduces erosion. It was lots of hard work involving lots of heavy lifting of trees and logs and carrying buckets of soil, and also very dirty work- we got covered in ash and dirt every day!

One of the valleys we worked in, the head cuts are in the sides of the hills

 It was very fun to finally be out on a hitch and working with a great crew! I got to make lots of new friends with the MHYC Hayman crew I was with, the Americorps NCCC crew that we have been working alongside with, and it ended up that our saw crew was camping near us as well! I especially enjoyed meeting them because I knew I was heading out with them for ten days for my next hitch. It was hard being away from Ben for those days, especially because we were away the weekend before, too. And I knew how badly he'd been wanting to go camping all summer!

My tent in Pike National Forest

 After getting back from that hitch and taking a much needed shower, I didn't have too much time to rest! On Saturday, the 16th, we dedicated our day to shopping and getting ready for our big date night! We were headed to a 1940's ball in Boulder. First, we shopped for my dress. We went to a cool neighborhood in Denver and found lots of cool vintage shops. We found a neat vintage/resale shop and I tried on lots of dresses. Eventually we found an awesome red dress that we both loved. We weren't sure if it was quite the right style for the era, but we thought it was close enough! Then I realized I would need some sort of jacket to keep warm because the dance was outside. I reached into the sweater rack and first thing I pulled out was perfect! A little blue shrug with a gold military-style looking eagle stitched on the left. At the check out we found a great fedora for Ben and a flower clip for my hair. Then we had to head off to get to my hair appointment! I've never gotten my hair done professionally before, and it was very fun! I knew I wouldn't be able to pull off a 1940s style on my own, so I thought it would be a good idea to get it done for this special occasion! It was really fun to dress up and get pretty after camping and working for a week! I did feel a little under dressed because I was all banged up with scrapes and bruises from working! Luckily, wearing nylons helped cover some of that up!

After I got my hair done we went to pick out Ben's outfit at Macy's. We got him a nice new pair of black dress slacks. Finally we were able to go home, get ready, and head out to the dance!

We had lots of fun at the 1940s ball! We ate some food, had a couple drinks, and did lots of dancing! We saw lots of cool outfits- some people went all out on the 1940s theme! There were also lots of  old planes and cars around that we got take pictures by. And I got a some comments on how great my hair looked, which was awesome! There's bunch more pictures of the party on my facebook. We didn't stay as late as we would have liked because I was so tired from the week, but we still had a great time!

It was a very busy two weeks!

Memorial day weekend and week

The three day weekend was much needed after the exhausting week of work and camping! On Saturday (5/26), Ben and Bill were working, so I had a nice day to myself. I finally had time to unpack and clean up the house a bit. They guys were really busy while I was gone, but I also think they somehow forgot how to use things like the dishwasher, laundry machines, and trashcan. On Sunday, Bill left to drive to Kansas for work. Ben and I had a big shopping day! We went to REI and had a fun time looking at all the gear we are pining for. I got a few things  that I figured out that I will need for work this summer (like nice hiking socks to help avoid blisters!) and Ben got some new shorts. I still have a few things on my list that I want, but they'll have to wait until the next paycheck I guess! We spent forever at REI and then eventually made it to Target to get lots of other odds and ends for my work/camping and home.

Monday was a beautiful day! It was nice that we Ben and I had off to go hiking! We met up with Ashley in Boulder, and she treated us to an awesome and crazy delicious lunch at a sandwich shop called Snarf (what a funny name!). After that, we drove around in the mountains for a while until we got to Walker Ranch Park, near Eldorado Canyon State Park. It was the first time Lucille (a new name I came up with for our new car- after Lucille Ball. Both are quirky and cute, and the car is the color of her hair! What do you think?) drove in the mountains, and she handled it pretty well. We did an 8 mile loop trail which was exhausting, but very worth it. The park was very beautiful, and Ashley got some great pictures of all the wildflowers blooming with her new fancy camera. It was cool to see all different wildflowers than we were used to! I think we are still adjusting to hiking at high altitudes, but we made it!

On Tuesday I had to be at work at 6:30 to help see off all the crews! With an hour and 15 minute drive to work, it made for a very early morning! It was great to see everyone in uniform and ready and rarrin' to go! I helped everyone pack up and get ready to go. I particularly helped with the grocery "shopping" that each crew had to do to because I had made the shopping lists, done the shopping, and set all the food up! It was a little hectic, but I think everyone eventually made it out with only forgetting a few things!
The rest of Tuesday and all of Wednesday I had a new focus. Now that those 3 crews were out, we had to prepare for the new crew that is starting in Pueblo next week! It is a special crew because there has never been one based in Pueblo before. Their orientation is going to be longer, more intensive, and hopefully I can help make it more fun! Not only did we have to plan and schedule a whole week of orientation, but there were still people to hire! I spent lots of time making phone calls and setting up interviews. Most of the time, however, I was setting up the orientation schedule, planning field trips, and planning activities to do! I have a lot of ice breaker/team building games planned, but my biggest accomplishment was designing a community mapping project. I got a few basic ideas online, but I came up with everything else myself. I am really excited for this project because it is the first thing that I am designing and leading myself. It will also probably stay in the curriculum for the future, so it will be able to be used for years and years. How cool is that!? Aside from the paperwork and games/activities, we will also be doing a museum tour that I planned, watching an environmental movie (Bag It) and having a discussion about it (that I am leading), and doing a service project at the Nature and Raptor Center (that I coordinated). Ok, so I am feeling a little braggy, but I am so excited to have a job where I can actually make decisions and be important- it is very new for me and it feels great.
On Thursday we drove down to Pueblo. Pueblo is a smaller city about an hour South of Colorado Springs. (My commute all next week is going to be very early and long! At least once I get to CS I'll be on company time.) In the morning, we had 8 interviews set up to do. It was pretty cool to be in on interviews- I even got to ask a lot of questions, which was really fun! We narrowed the candidates down to 4 people pretty easily, but we only have two slots to fill! Nancy and Ryan (my bosses) are making the decisions today (Friday), which is going to be very tough! They even mentioned that they hope someone drops out next week so that they can hire more of the people that we interviewed Thursday.
In the afternoon we went to a tiny (and I mean very tiny- the whole town was essentially a cul de sac!) that has a big and beautiful park that one of the crews is being hired to work on later this summer. The town is Brookside, CO and is West of Pueblo. It is findable on google maps (I was a little surprised!). We conducted a "Site Visit" and got a very in depth tour of the park and trails. The trail was built a long time ago and is a little worse for wear. There is going to be lots of reshaping and rebuilding areas of the trail, but most of the work is going be putting tons of big stone steps throughout the trail because it is incredibly steep. It was cool to see this part of the planning process. Now that I got this introduction to the planning and contracting the work, it will be cool to come back and work on this project later in the summer and see the big changes we are going to make!
After lots of driving, I finally made it home after 7! Luckily, today (Friday) I am working from home. I am working on refining my activities for next week, so it wasn't imperative that I come into the office today. I have them all planned, but I am typing everything out and adding more to the schedule. Although it has been a short week, I am very glad to have a bit of a break today!

Besides work,  another exciting (and a little scary!) thing happened this week! There is a restaurant that is being remodeled next to our apartment building. On Wednesday night, it was on fire! We had our screen door opened and smelled smoke. At first, we thought we had left the stove on or something. We realized it was coming from outside and we looked out and saw flames! I was thinking of calling 911, but thankfully a few seconds later we heard the fire trucks coming. We went downstairs to check it all out. We hung out by all the fire trucks for a while, which was pretty cool. There were about 20 fire trucks and more emergency/police vehicles everywhere. They even closed down our section of the street. At one point we heard a really loud bang that we thought was probably a gas tank exploding inside the restaurant. We saw the fire trucks put out their bracers and rise up. We saw hoses on the big ladders spraying water onto the roof of the building where the flames were. It was all pretty efficient and they got the fire out really fast. After we went home to go to bed though, there was still lots of noise while the fire fighters took axes and chain saws to the building to let the smoke out and make sure there were no more flames. I took some pictures of the ordeal, but it was really hard to get them to turn out. I found a website with some really cool pictures- you can check them out here http://5280fire.com/?p=26741 . They are similar to the ones I took- just way better! Today, the building looks the same as ever, as if nothing happened there at all!
We don't have any plans for the weekend yet, although it sounds like Ben is going to be very busy working. I'm hoping we'll get to visit his coworker's newborn son, Hudson. He was born last Friday! We each picked out a little cardboard book for him that was one of our favorites as kids. I picked out Harold and the Purple Crayon, and Ben got him Caps for Sale. It is a little early for him to enjoy reading, but I know he'll love them  as he grows up!
I have to get back to work! Have a great weekend everyone!

Phase Two

This past work week was still training, but it was designed to be a little more typical of what I will be doing in the future. We left early on Monday morning and met up at North Table Mountain, which is a recreational space run by the (Jefferson) county. Getting there was very dramatic and stressful, and unfortunately cast a shadow over the whole day. I got picked up by two other people who didn't know to leave early enough to allow for traffic! We got to the rendezvous point late and then had to drive to the work site separately. We basically hit every type of inconvenience, including waiting for a train and navigating past freeway accidents.  We made it to the job site just in time and jumped right into work!
 Working on a mountain is pretty cool, until you realize how hot, steep, and unshaded it is. For our training, we were helping the county revitalize this area. Our instructors were all part of the Outdoor Stewardship Institute (OSI). We worked on three different projects through the day. First, we helped construct a switchback. Mostly, this involved using pickaxes to dig out the trail, and then building a rock wall along the edge of the trail to support it. Our instructor for this particular project was a cute old man who seemed to take a liking to me. I think he actually picked me out as being the weakest, smallest, and most inexperienced and tried to empower me by making me the group leader. This ended up having the opposite effect. I, with no clue of what I was doing, had to direct a group of people who already knew how to do the work what to do while I was being corrected by the instructor every step of the way. I basically hated every minute of it, but I stuck it through! Later, the instructor was trying to joke around with me and called me a weakling, which was just the icing on the cake.
Our next job was to build a water bar. This job was the least stressful of the three. We dug a big diagonal ditch across the trail, built it into the trail with dug-in ramps, and then filled the end of the ditch in with some large rocks. The purpose of this is to catch the water run off that comes down the trail and redirect it to the mountainside, rather than allowing to to continue down and washing out the trail.
Finally, we went way up the mountain and started digging a brand new trail. A social trail had formed there, and we needed to design a trail that would make more sense and be more healthy for the landscape. Again, we used lots of pickaxes and shovels, although this was much more difficult! Cutting into fresh mountainside isn't easy! I got singled out again here, which was frustrating. At the end of the day, I was very stressed out, hot, and sunburned, but I had learned a lot!
After we got to our campsite and set up, we had dinner and then some more training! It just never ends. We had a two hour session about leadership. At least there were no tools involved!
The next day was a pretty similar set up, although it went much better for me! We were at Red Rocks State Park, which is a very cool place I had never been to before! There are a ton of huge red rock formations scattered through out the park- there is even an amphitheater built in between some of the formations- courtesy of the CCC. Way cool!

 Two of our jobs involved closing off social trails. We had to pick and dig away at the trails to loosen of the soil, and then basically rebuild them into a more natural state. To do this, we dug in grooves for water to follow, strategically placed rocks to act functionally and look natural, and seed, fertilize, mulch the area before covering it with slash (tree branches which protect the seeds and also block off the trail). When we were done with those trails, they looked like pieces of (natural) art!

The other project we worked on was a bit different because we actually were working with a social trail instead of taking it out or otherwise working against it. There is a path from the amphitheater to one of the parking lots that a lot of people use and it is very steep! We knew that there wasn't really a way to stop people from using this major causeway, so we decided to make it safer by putting stairs in it. Building stairs (especially 6 foot wide and 30 inch long ones) up a steep path is a lot of work! We spent a lot of time digging and measuring, and then digging and measuring some more!  We worked ourselves ragged with those stairs but it was my favorite job we worked on. Our team worked really well together and we got a great, tangible, useful, result.
After work we headed back to camp and I nursed my very brutal blisters. They were so bad that I wasn't sure I would be able to work on Wednesday! Luckily one of my team members was very handy with moleskin and tape, and I was able to wear 3 pairs of socks and take some painkillers to get me through!
I was on dinner crew that night and I helped make some very great burritos that really hit the spot! After dinner, we had two more hours of training!
The next two days were filled with a myriad of different jobs we worked on! We carried fencing up the mountain and built three big fences with it. We built two sets of stairs in some really steep parts or the trail, and rehabilitated a bunch of trail and eroded areas. I didn't get to take too many pictures, but I did capture one of our fence! I'm looking forward to going back and showing people all the awesome work we did.

After work on Wednesday, we had spaghetti for dinner and then some more training! The rest of the night was a bit dramatic as there was a huge thunderstorm, complete with lots of pouring rain, thunder, lightning and hail! Not so fun to camp in! The storm eventually dissipated and we ended the night sleeping in very cold and slightly damp tents. Thursday was a half work day and we were able to pack up and head home a little early.
I was hoping we would have Friday off to recover, but there was lots to do in the office! The crews were all heading out on their official first hitch on Tuesday (Monday was off for Memorial day) so we had a lot to prepare for. We did lots of planning, cleaning, organizing, packing, and shopping! I especially helped with all of the food shopping- we went to Costco and got 3 flat carts piled high with food! It takes a lot to feed 25 people for 5 days and 12 people for 10 days!
Finally, we got to head home for the long weekend!

Jobness

So far, I've been at work for a week and a half!
I started on Wednesday the 9th. The first three days were lots of training, orientation,  and paperwork! It was really nice, however, to meet all of my coworkers and my two bosses. They all seem really great! Nancy is runs the office and is pretty cute. She also always has her boston terrier with her, Zoki, who is totally awesome. My other boss is Ryan. He runs the conservation program I am a part of. He is 6' 8'' and a little intimidating at first, but is a pretty cool guy. My other coworkers consist of 4 teams of crew leaders and mentors. There is also one other ACLC (same as my position) and we get along really well so far! We are also both currently living in Denver, so we've been able to carpool and switch off driving days, which is really convenient and money-saving.
This past week started with two training days in Denver for the ACLCs and mentors. It was interesting to be at the head office and meeting a lot of new people, but the training wasn't too exciting because it was mostly what we had already covered in our office. Wednesday was the first day with the crews! There were three crews (33 people) to meet. I think I know everyone's name already! I'll have to test myself again next week. There is one more crew that is based in another city, Pueblo, that will be trained in later. Although sometimes I feel a little left out because of not being in a crew, I'm really excited to be able to jump around and work with all of the crews.
Wednesday and Thursday were similar to the same days in the previous week. We went through almost all the same paperwork, but we had to help the big group figure it all out. Luckily, my fellow ACLC and I got a little break because we got to lead some activities during paperwork breaks and we got to distribute all the uniforms. The uniforms are mostly a green t-shirt and khaki work pants. And, lots of PPE/ safety gear as well. The uniform distribution went smoothly, but we did have to deal with some pants issues. The pants are these really thick work pants and they are basically designed to not fit on anyone! They are also incredibly unattractive and uncomfortable!
On Friday, we had a full day outside, which was a great change! We went to a really beautiful park in Colorado Springs and had some outdoor training. We learned about basic trail building and maintenance, safety practices, and got introduced to a huge number of tools. The hardest part about that is going to be remembering all of their names! After those lessons, we took a nice educational hike up to the top of a big hill (small mountain?) and had a great view of the city and mountain range. We all got very hot and sweaty (we practiced hiking while carrying our tools) and also found out that breaking in our work boots is going to take a while! Meanwhile, we'll have to work through those blisters. Here's a group photo of everyone. I'm on the bottom left along with my fellow ACLC.

Next week, I'll be camping with all of the crew leaders (in gray) and mentors to do some more training! I'm thinking that it will be a lot more fun than what we've done so far.

Meanwhile, things a home have been fairly quiet. Bill came back from Hawaii, and both he and Ben have been working really long days (from about 5 am to 7 or 8 pm). They've been working this job all week, including today (Saturday!) and will be working at the same place through at least most of next week. We all feel like we are never home! We get home from work, eat take-out or left overs, and go to bed soon after. I also have been getting home late because of my commute. We have all just been too tired to do much of anything, but I think we are going to REI and/or the mall tomorrow. Otherwise,what we have done lately has been before we all stared working so much! We went to the Zoo last Saturday. We saw the new Asian exhibit which is going to be very cool! We got in with our free tickets that we got from  the car dealership. Everything is done being built, but not all of the animals were in yet. But the elephants were there and they were enjoying checking out their new homes. An especially neat feature to the exhibit is that the rhinos, taipirs and the elephants are going to be rotating habitats each day. They get to have a little variation in sights and smells, which is pretty neat. The rest of the zoo was also awesome- as usual! Bill hadn't been there since October, so I had fun showing him around. After the zoo we went to dinner at Dave and Busters (Ben and I had never been before) and then we went to to see the Avengers again, but this time in Imax and 3D! It was just as good as the first time, but bigger and louder!

Thanks for reading! I'll check back in after camping next week.