St. Genevieve - 4/24

Today was a horrible, no good, very bad day.  If you want to read some lighter/ more fun stuff I’d skip about half way down this entry, otherwise brace yourselves!  It started off with me having issues trying to park a trailer with Cloud, which is similar to one of those large church vans.  I did well driving it, but parking a trailer without a truck is a challenge on a whole ‘nother level.  From there, I was riding passenger in a UTV when a waterway came out of nowhere.  We’re both ok, but the UTV’s front right axel was damaged (hopefully that’s all it was).  I guess last week there were 3 accidents involving these UTVs, so Wes came over and gave us a talking to (for good reason).  Right as he was about to leave our other UTV crew flattened two of their tires because there was a sharp piece of shrapnel hiding in the grass.  To try and prevent further incidents Wes suggested going no faster than 10mph before the UTV crew departed… but they were only going 5 mph when they hit the debris.  Talk about bad luck.

Despite all of the setbacks, we did get some spraying in.  My sprayer was missing a lever that pressurized it, but I Macgyvered it with a stick… and then the nozzle would not stop gushing chemical unless it was thrust heavenward.  While patrolling one of the hills along Interstate 55 I slipped on some of the hay covering it and sliced my hand open; this was particularly hazardous as the wind was fluctuating and occasionally blowing chemical in my direction since my sprayer was just having a grand ol’ time and refused to stop.  Luckily that was the end of our woes, but man, today was a series of unfortunate events.

On a completely different note, I had a dream last night.  I remember trying to infiltrate a secret order of wizards that either Harry, Ron, and Hermione where a part of or were my accomplices—that part wasn’t as clear.  Another mystery was why I was Jennifer Lawrence.  Polyjuice potion is the rational explanation… but that doesn’t feel right.  Anyways, I recall doing some crazy acrobatics and jumping into a wishing well in front of some important looking building.  After swimming down and looping up I was in a well-kept facility.  Next thing I know I am blindfolded and being lead along with the Harry Potter trio and some other potential initiates into a room.  We were placed in a circle and told that under no circumstances were we allowed to open our eyes.  I did anyways.  In between us all was a translucent figure… and then I woke up.

Oi, what a day.  I think I’m going to call it quits before the universe decides to throw something else in our general direction.  Good night all—hopefully your day went better than mine!

St. Genevieve - 4/23

Imagine me standing on the hood of a UTV proceeding down the side of a highway.  The wind catches the light jacket that I’m wearing, sending it into a series of cool looking flutters as I stare down the invasives from behind my impenetrable shades.  That’s pretty much what happened today, only I was in a seat as safety regulations didn’t approve of my Captain Jack Sparrow-esque introduction.  Both UTVs are operational again, so we were zooming all over the place blasting Teasel and Spotted Knapweed wherever it dared to show up.  I love being the gunner—turns out all of those quarters spent playing House of the Dead and Time Crisis in the arcades of my youth were coins well spent!  My accuracy was impeccable if I do say so myself… and I do.

Driving was fun too but UTVs aren’t nearly as mobile as ATVs.  Their turning radius is horrendous and I’m pretty sure the breaks on the one I was operating were shot as we were getting sucked into a ditch even with the brake pedal all the way to the floor.  Thanks to some quick thinking on Liana’s part, I took charge of the wheel and the brake while she took over the gas and we managed to reverse out of nature's tractor beam.  Excellent team work!  Anyways, despite both the vehicles being healthy we still needed to send someone up on the bluffs to scout it out.  On one such tour of duty I came across some snakes, all of which were a solid darker color.  I’ve found that I do not scare easily so long as I know where the danger is coming from and what the danger is.  Serpents have this nasty habit of employing stealth though so, not going to lie, they got my heart beating a bit quicker than it is used to.

In other news, we just finished a game called “We Didn’t Playtest This At All.”  Look it up if you have a moment.  The game’s mechanics are a bit wonky as you usually have a winner before everyone even has a chance to play a card, but I will admit it was amusing.  Well that’s all for tonight folks.  Good night!

St. Genevieve - 4/22

I feel as if a great burden has been lifted!  Whew, those backpack sprayers really sneak up on ya.  They start off no different than the firepacks we carry about, but the sloshing liquid combined with the uncomfortable straps leaves you sore by the day’s end.  At least I managed to avoid spilling chemical all over myself!  The sprayers have a little ventilation at the top so they are notorious for soaking the unwary who bend too far in one direction.  In the undetermined number of miles I walked today, I came closer to being bitten by a snake than I did dousing myself in chemical so I’m feeling pretty accomplished.  As for the snake, with my shades on it looked solid black and it was about as wide as my wrist.  It slithered off before I got a good look at it, but it caught me by surprise as 20 feet next to a highway is the last place I would expect to find a viper.

The day went well though over here in the St. Genevieve area.  My mind is still kind of jet lagged from the change of pace over the weekend, but I don’t regret a thing.  I am very happy I got to see my parents, Haley, and even one of my brothers, but the time was so short that it felt like it was nothing more than a dream.  Now no matter what I do I cannot escape the feeling that I am dreaming.  You ever have one of those days?  Well, I’m off to get some rest; hopefully this is not Inception as we may already be a couple of levels into my subconscious.  Talk to you all soon!

St. Genevieve - 4/21

This week I am helping out the South Eastern Missouri Department of Conservation.  Normally this would entail staying at Baptist Camp and working around the Cape Girardeau area—but not anymore!  Now we are the AmeriCorps strike team; we are those guys you see along the highway performing maintenance in those neon yellow vests.  Unlike the majority of said workers, we get to drive UTVs!  Driving on or near the highway is exhilarating, especially when you are going against traffic.  With no windshield you get a new appreciation for how fast we drive on a day to day basis.  Anyhow, we are staying at the Creole House which used to be a Bed and Breakfast.  The pool is no longer functional but there is a hot tub I am thinking about taking advantage of next week!

The only downside is that SE MDC is currently down a UTV so those not operating one have to go about backpack spraying.  Hopefully the other will be fixed soon so we can perform at optimum efficiency!  Until such a time, we shall get a nice work out with those packs.  I think I need to go as all that driving yesterday has left me drained.  Good night all!

Winona - 4/18

As I need to get a move on let me explain to you what we did today… no there is too much, let me sum up.  We went to Riverton East and West and prepared the two riverside entries for the public.  Lots of leaf blowing and stick picking up…ping—two things we have become adept at over the course of this week.  Our contact for the day, Anthony, said to be at Riverton East at 8:00am and that the day will involve “blowing and stick chucking,” but he made no mention as to whether or not he would be meeting us there.  After it was 5 minutes passed the hour, I made the executive decision that he intended for us to clear the lots so I had 3 of my crew take up blowers and sent the rest on a seek and destroy mission involving the fallen branches.  Our contact showed up an hour or so later, by which time we had finished half the lot and were fine tuning the rest.  He was happy with what we had accomplished that he sent us off to replicate our efforts on the West side.  Two songs came to mind and would not leave after our transition; East Side West Side that we sang back at ALFA and the Star Wars gangster rap.  Anyways, we did good things guys—good things.

After being told I’ve made great strides as a leader and that the one thing I need to work on is being louder and/or more vocal, I am on my way to Chicago to spend Easter with my family.  Happy early Easter everyone!  Until we meet again!

Winona - 4/17

So the Emergency Response Team is kind of a big deal—people know us.  We were requested by Forest Service to prepare the Sinking Creek area for a Congressional meeting.  This meeting plays a key role in the decision as to whether or not the Forest Service will be allowed to continue doing prescribed burns or not.  I do not know whether or not this decision will be on a state or national level, but either way it’s a big deal (even bigger than us!).  Without prescribed burns the undergrowth and fallen debris would pile up and when a wildfire inevitably comes about it will be immensely more dangerous.  Fires cannot be prevented forever; it would be far safer to have professionals controlling them so I am confused as to why this is even up for debate.

Anyways, we spent the majority of the day making the Sinking Creek area look pretty.  We bucked up a couple of fallen trees, blew debris off the lawn, and monitored a burn pile with an engine crew.  After tidying the grounds up to their liking they sent us off to do a similar job at The Narrows aka the 11 Point River Entry.  We did the exact same thing there.  My crew is top notch; we finished both of our tasks for the day with time to spare so we did some tool maintenance.

Now?  We’re getting ready to watch the second Sherlock Holmes movie.  I am going to give our contact a call to see what he has planned tomorrow and then settle in and relax.  Hope you all are doing well.  Good night in advance!

Winona - 4/16

I feel like I have acquired a familiar.  Ever since I became a Team Leader in Training there has been a monarch butterfly fluttering about me.  We sighted it every day while we were working on Hercules Tower and here in Winona the same thing is occurring.  Chances of it being the same butterfly are a C-3P0 calculation, but what if it was?  Maybe if I take some tips from Gandalf I’d be able to summon me some giant eagles.

Anyways, today we headed over to Wolf Creek Trails to prepare the area for a 5k on Saturday.  I took charge, announcing I wanted 2 groups of 3—each crew equipped with a saw and a pair of loppers.  I also put myself in charge of one of the trios and made sure each team had a person with experience working trails and radios.  By asking for opinions we concluded each party should also bring a McLeod and that one group should start where we parked while the other drives down a ways.  Originally I was going to have us just leap frog each other… boy am I glad my team came up with a better idea.

Our contact estimated that we would be clearing 3 miles of trail.  While the paths he had us working on may be 3 miles from start to finish if one walked a straight line, the trail had more curls than… I got nothing, but there were a lot!  We ended up clearing 6 miles of trail.  The plan was for the first group to make it to the truck and then they would pick up the second group further down the way; when the clock struck 3 and my group (the second group) had passed the rendezvous I tried radioing the other crew.  No dice.  Luckily we all had amazing cell phone service so I just called them and found out they hadn’t made it to the truck.  As my team was just clearing extra trail at this point, Clare and I agreed that we would head back to where we started and work in their direction.  Turns out they had much thicker vegetation than we did, but thanks to some quick thinking and teamwork we managed to complete our task and make it to the truck by a little after 5.

It has been a long day.  I’m going to go turn in.  I think this program may whip me back into leadership material yet!  Night all!

No pics of the day, but here is a sneak peek into tomorrow!

Winona - 4/15

What a nice and relaxing day.  We started off going to some old burn units (Cane Ridge and King/Miller), which some of our fellow Emergency Response Members helped set off.  We landed the easy task of going around the 2500 acres and collecting the flagging that was left behind.  Danny, our contact for the day, respected me as the Team Leader in Training and treated me as an equal… even after I temporarily got my team lost.  We ended up taking a detour that led us to a farm where we saw some baby pigs so it wasn’t a complete loss!  Anyhow, we kept in contact via radio and I think my etiquette was pretty good aside from accidentally saying “cool” once and not copying another transmission.  Still, we split up and finished the task just in time for lunch.

The second half of our day consisted of us heading over to the Watercrest campground and clearing the lawns of debris so that they could be mowed.  To accomplish this, I had our crew of 6 line up on one side of the grounds and we gridded our way to the other.  Gridding is sooo much easier when you can actually see where you are going!  My team performed amazingly and when we were done the area looked like something straight out of a fairy-tale: lush green fields polka dotted with flowers next to a gently rolling river.

We are in the process of gathering to watch Gladiator, which just happens to be one of my favorite movies.  “What we do here echoes in eternity…” that may be paraphrased as it has been way too long since I last saw this film.  I like the quote though and would like to think that those of us in AmeriCorps are doing things that will leave some awesome echoes. Catch you all later!

Winona - 4/14

Our lodging for this week is a house… a legitimate house.  It is your typical middle to upper-middle class structure with an unfinished/creepy basement, an upstairs, spacious rooms, you know, the works.  What stands out to me the most is the carpeting—yeah they gave us carpeting, that will come back to haunt them (kidding)…anyways, it reminds me of Grandpa Verleger’s house on Houghton Lake.  I’m having a hard time coming up with a description of it.  Hmm.  You know how when some soils get particularly hot and dry they kind of flake?  There are dozens upon dozens of cracks running through them making the ground look like it is a collection of flat rocks.  It looks something like that; that or maybe looking through a clear body of water to the depths below where the ripples are fragmenting your vision.  I like the carpeting as it is comforting to the touch as well as the mind… all these pleasant memories involving cardboard forts, fireworks, and so much more.  This is going to be a good week.

To start our week off right we were sent to Davis Place to prepare a field for haying.  This required us to level the area a.k.a. cut down designated trees and bushes to open the place up.  While I suggested we use the 4 loppers that Austin packed for us, after Clare asked if she could use a chainsaw and went to town on a patch it became apparent that power equipment was the way to go.  I was trying to save the program a couple bucks by conserving gas, but if we didn’t incorporate the chainsaws we wouldn’t have finished by the day’s end.  As it stands, we decimated the shrubbery with time to spare.

I think I am getting better at this whole Team Leader in Training thing… kind of a mouthful though.  Kind of feels like Assistant to the Regional Manager.  Ha.  Anyhow, I still need to work on getting around in the morning to help make sure everything is done so I’m going to call it a little early tonight.  Talk to you all tomorrow!

Lebanon - 4/10

*Team Gold arrives at Laclede County in Missouri*

Chris: Appears we got here just in the nick of time.  What does that make us?

Zoe: Big damn heroes.

Chris: Ain’t we just.

All right, I may have stolen this exchange from Joss Whedon, but it fits as we played a vital role in the safety of Laclede County.  Most of the MDC members were off receiving training when 3 wildfires popped up.  It could simply be coincidence, but I got the vibe that the arsonists received word that MDC was operating with a skeleton crew.  One thing that the villains failed to anticipate was AmeriCorps's intervention.  By midnight the fires were under control with only 500 acres lost.

The first fire near Mohave was the worst because of the fluctuating winds.  The fire was moving faster than we could blow the line so we had to fall back a couple times for our own safety.  The winds became favorable a little after 5:00pm (roughly 2 hours into the fire fight) at which time we switched to a direct attack and quickly got a line and a back burn up to a nearby road to halt the fire’s advance.  I got to see a nice fire whirl in the process—imagine a tornado that is on fire.  That was pretty cool.

The second fire was being wrapped up by the local fire department by the time we got to it so the Incident Commander, Mike Hufferd, bumped us over to the third at Wolsey Hollow Overlook.  By this point it was dark out so we had to break out our headlamps.  We didn’t really need them.  The flames were 5 feet tall in places with embers shooting every which direction.  It was a miracle that those flying flares didn’t cause any spot fires.  After Will did a quick analysis he concluded that the wind was on our side and we set to work.  I took up the rear on this fire looking for snags to rake around, moving larger sticks out of the line, keeping an eye on the fire and making sure that it stayed on the proper side of the line.  Due to the rough terrain the drip torches were having trouble making a consistent line so I incorporated a trick I learned.  I put some leaves on my broom rake, held it over a fire, and then spread the flaming debris over the unlit sections.  Worked like a charm.  There were a couple of embers that flew over the line but I quickly snuffed them out.  I’d say by 11:00pm we had our area under control and we were requested to help with a spot over on another line.

After the spot over we met up with the IC and remaining fire fighters who thanked us and told us we did an amazing job.  I was happy to hear it, but the exhaustion is outweighing that warm fuzzy feeling.  All I have to say before I crash is never go to a fire without contacts.  I made that mistake today and my eyes would not stop watering (nor would my nose for that matter).  Well it’s that time again.  Good night friends!  Know that I am safe and sound and I’m wishing you all the best.

Photo taken by Kelly Kaufmann.

Ava - 4/9

The Tower of Hercules is finished!  We modified our system so that Will and Fatima freed up the old boards, Justin cut new boards that matched the original dimensions, then Kelly and I would set and secure the new ones.  This method required us working on unsecured boards (bolted but without nuts), but the winds were much calmer than the other day where gusts peaked at 25 mph.  We made sure to take things slow and test wherever we placed any weight so never fear, we were playing it safe.  Job well done Team Gold!

After completing our project we went and fell Red Cedars in Sugar Tree as a reward.  I took down 3, the least of us sawing today, but it has been a couple of weeks and today is danger day so I took my time.  I can’t remember if I explained what danger day is or not, in the event that I haven’t it is the last day in service before a break.  People can get complacent or rush things and it can cause all sorts of havoc so we have to be vigilant.

So the Forest Service may be extending our stay to assist with a burn tomorrow.  As much as I enjoy fire I have yet to go on a 10 day that ends on the 10th day; what’s up with that!?  Either way I will be doing something fun tomorrow, I just hope that something is visiting my family in Michigan as I’ve spent more time with burns than I have them this year.

On a separate note, restaurants in the smaller towns of Missouri really cater to the people.  While I was serving in Cape Girardeau we frequented a place called Pie Safe.  The building used to be a bank in the 50’s or 60’s and has since been renovated into a bakery.  You can even go into the vault although the room isn’t even the size of a walk-in closet.  My how banks have changed.  Anyways, all of the delicacies sold there are ridiculously cheap and extremely good.  If you’re ever near Pocahontas, Missouri, I strongly urge you to visit!  If you’re near Ava there is Ava Drug that sells the 5 cent ice cream, which is a steal, or if you need something a little more hearty check out Hucklebuck.  It’s a BBQ joint with very affordable selections and the hosts have given us free food 2 nights in a row!  Last night Will and Justin got their meals free because they didn’t know it was cash only and today we got free sodas and 2 homemade blackberry cobblers!  Excellent customer service and great food—if I get another Ava assignment I’m definitely going back!

I got to stop talking about food before I confuse my stomach.  Bed time for now.  If you don’t hear from me tomorrow then here’s to my next adventure!  Talk to you all before you know it!

Picture taken by Kelly Kaufmann.

Ava - 4/8

Zeus decided to stop by and see how we were doing on his son’s tower.  He dropped some rain on us just so we knew he was watching, but we must have performed adequately as there was no thunder or lightning.  It was just a sprinkle really; we could see rain pouring from clouds in 3 of the 4 directions surrounding us though.  Curiously we did not experience another drop of water, wind—well, that’s another story.  The Greek deity must have grown bored shielding us from the storm and let loose some of the elements to kick the difficulty up a notch.  There were more than a couple of instances where we had to brace ourselves on an attached railing or secured plank.  Perhaps Zeus was just getting a little too into Kelly’s Trampled By Turtles playlist because the gusts matched the tunes harmoniously.  Anyhow, we now have 6 flights completed and a start on the 7th with 1 day to go.  Now that we have found our rhythm I’m confident we’re going to see this project through to completion.

Working on the tower has made me a happy man—I’m really hoping to land a similar task before my service term is over.  For now though I’m going to hit the showers as I am long overdue and lucky enough to have one available.  Talk to you all later!

Ava - 4/7

What once was lost has now been found!  It turns out my cell phone was hiding in the bed of our truck.  I checked it the night of its disappearance when the vehicle was still prepped for fire as well as when we unpacked all of the potential hiding spots to no avail.  Needless to say I was shocked when Kelly brought it to me and told me where it was.  I’m confident a wizard put a shrinking charm on it as that’s what they love to do in their free time.

The heavens cried tears of joy (quite heavily) at the reunion of my phone and me.  We stayed at the Ava office until noon sharpening and cleaning tools, some of which appeared to be caked in cement.  It was slow going at first, but after they brought us this weird brush/drill contraption we started zipping through them.  Of course when this demi-god of a tool was introduced the rain stopped so we had to wrap up, pack out, and head to Hercules Tower.

In our haste we forgot to acquire the key to the radio room with all of the electrical sockets we needed for our power tools.  We tried to charge the tools' batteries with Cactus, our truck, but it immediately blew a fuse.  So we went up and secured the 4th flight of stairs with nuts and did what we could on the troublesome 5th by hand.  Pleasant weather today over all!  Going to go grab some curry and relax.  Later all!

Ava - 4/6

Back to the Tower of Hercules we go!  The game plan hasn’t changed since our last visit: we need to remove the old stairs and put in the new.  I did a little bit of everything from cutting new planks to removing the nuts and bolts from the old ones.  Will Burks got me all nervous by mentioning how fragile the old stairs are, which you need to stand on if you are in the front of the group removing the metal bits.  With the wind there were a couple of iffy moments, but a little mind over matter settled me down.  Despite a couple of setbacks 4 flights of stairs are now done and the 5th is practically prepped to being putting in new boards.

At the start of the day there were some cub scouts in the area.  They were wearing tan uniforms so I imagine they were Webelos… cause I can’t remember being that tiny when I was in the Scouts.  Being up in a tower may have played with my perception of size a bit.  Anyhow, was fun to see a Troop hanging out; a similar group is a large reason I am here serving today.  Huge shout out to Troop 325 back in Michigan!  Hope those following in my footsteps are just as hard-working and mischievous.  Good night all!

Ava - 4/5

995: that’s how many acres were in the prescribed burn unit we helped out with.  It was us, the Midewin hot shot crew, some members from the Mark Twain National Forest staff, and a couple of specialists on the scene and the fire went very well…albeit very slowly.  Our group of 5 started off with a hot shot ignition team, but the burn boss quickly realized that one side would be left unmanned if we stuck together.  His solution was to put our crew, AmeriCorps Gold, in charge of 1.3 miles of fire line and we patrolled the heck out of that line!  By the end of the day we had hiked 8 miles and I think our side was the only one that didn’t have a spot over.  Go team!

Our success came at a price, however; my cell phone has gone missing.  I last remember having it near the end of our patrol line.  We booked it back to the trucks when we heard the burn boss wanted us elsewhere so it could have fallen out anywhere on that 1.3 mile stretch.  Losing my phone has been traumatizing; it is my alarm clock, my lifeline to friends and family outside of the Corps, and a vital medium for updates in my line of work.  As a team leader in training this is extremely problematic.  Will told the mop up crew to keep an eye open for it so I’ll hope for the best.  If fate is unkind though I will need to get another phone asap.  Heading to bed.  You all take care now!

Ava - 4/4

Add ATV driving to my ongoing list of certifications!  I don’t remember what ATV or UTV stand for… but in terms of their appearance I relate them to a video game series: Halo.  The ATV is like a Mongoose and the UTV is more akin to the Warthog, complete with a gun (for spraying invasives).  ATVs, at least the one I was using, are stick shifts so that took some getting used to, but I had a lot of fun figuring it out.  Your weight and where you place it has a significant impact on how the vehicle drives, like you need to shift your weight in the direction you want to go for a smooth turn.  The cold was a c-c-c-combo breaker with all the nice weather we’ve been having, but with all of the obstacles courses and activities we were completing we barely noticed the chill.

That’s all and more than I should write tonight.  My mind is having trouble formulating sentences and regulating the flow of thoughts.  Maybe it’s because we just made it past the halfway point of our 10 day.  Regardless, I feel the need to crash.  Talk to you all later!

Ava - 4/3

We returned to Hercules Tower today only to be called back by Rolla dispatch after setting up our gear.  There was a severe thunderstorm heading our way so we needed to return to the Ava compound.  The sun was shining and there were nothing but puffy white clouds as far as the eye could see, but we followed orders.  Sure enough, 10 minutes after we got back there was a torrential downpour.  Thanks Rolla dispatch!

While it was storming we performed a decent amount of tool maintenance.  After it was done…what didn’t we do?  We cleared the drains of leaves and loose sediment, used said sediment to fill holes in the parking lot, moved tires (one of which was so heavy it took 3 of us to move), consolidated firewood piles, power washed the trailer we sleep in, threw away old signs, AND took off and replaced some tin roof paneling.

I’d say my favorite task was working on the roof.  I think I just love jobs with a view and working at a new height grants a new perspective.  Well I’m done for the day—one too many trips with a wheel barrel filled with sediment up a hill.  Night friends!

P.S. Our blowers’ names are Tapanga and BilBlow Baggins.  How cool is that?

Ava - 4/2

The Easter Egg hunt is on!  After a fun day of service my team returned to the Ava compound with a sweet tooth.  They proceeded to find all but 3 of the 18 hidden throughout the trailer and let out exclamations of joy whenever one contained the treasured Reese Pieces.  I’d count this as a success!  Note to self, next time I buy multi flavored jelly beans avoid the ones with the “buttered popcorn” taste.  Eating one of these resulted in expressions similar to what one might expect to see after chomping down on a Bertie Bott’s vomit flavored bean.

As for our fun day, we got to work on the Hercules fire tower!  It has 9 flights of stairs and climbing the 4th puts you above the tree line to give you an idea of its height.  We took out the stairs one plank at a time, sawed a new one, then replaced the rotten and breaking boards.  The task may have been a little perilous, but I felt more attached to this project than any other I have undertaken in AmeriCorps.  I’m hoping we get to go back tomorrow, but I’ll settle for a fire too!  Night friends.  Hope you all are doing well!

Ava - 4/1

We were planning on doing a burn today but the weather didn’t cooperate.  So Reggie, our contact, sent us over to prepare the North Fork Campground for visitation in Mark Twain National Forest.  I’d say the area is 90% complete as there are still a couple of flagged trees that need to come down, but that is maybe another hour’s work—tops.  Afterwards, as we were all decked out in our Nomex, we visited the 5 cent ice cream store.  There are 12 flavors to choose from and they let you mix.  I went with the chocolate brownie fudge, but I got my eye on the mint chocolate chip and cookie dough for next time.  The fudge was delicious, in case you were wondering.

While we were indulging in our Taco Tuesday feast I told my team I hid candy throughout our sleeping quarters.  Their response was “what kind of candy?”  As I listed the treats I got some nods of approval for the multi-flavored jelly beans, but what really got their attention was the Reese Pieces.  Still, after a hard day’s work they didn’t seem thrilled about going on an Easter Egg hunt.  Ah well, looks like they may be finding random eggs in the days to come!  Good night friends.

Ava - 3/31

I am now in Ava, the land of the 5 cent ice cream scoops!  I don’t know the whole story behind it, but I believe an older gentleman wanted to share his fondness of the marketplace he frequented growing up.  So, he remodeled it to match the time period and sells regular sized ice cream scoops for the same price as it was when he was a kid—5 cents!  Everything else reflects modern day pricing, but I think he only does that so he can continue offering quality ice cream at an unbeatable deal.  Typically we go and get ice cream after battling a fire so I will let you know later how good it is!

So yeah, I’m on fire rotation this month!  There is a lot of rain forecasted for this week which puts a damper on things, but it sounds like they have a couple of cool alternatives for us to do if the nay-saying comes true.  Going to head to bed.  We’re camped in an RV—all 5 of us and I feel like I’m keeping folks awake.  Every little movement if done in a certain manner makes the whole thing shake.  By the way, I’m the Team Leader in Training this month.  Night!

Camera issues

Hey all, I have temporarily misplaced my camera so my entries from 3/31 through 4/10 (and possibly beyond) are going to go picture-less for a spell; I will see if I can snag a photo or two from my team mates.  Hopefully it will turn up soon!  If not, keep an eye out for an affordable canon camera as the software I have installed for messing with photos uses that model.