Week 22

Virginia, my home.

After 2 FULL days of driving, my team and I finally made it to Cape Charles, VA! It was a pleasant trip, and since we brought a cargo van in addition to our 15-passenger van, we had plenty of space. I am one of 6 drivers on my team, and we drive in shifts of 2 hours, so my share was about 5 shifts over the two days, which wasn’t bad at all.

In addition to a great trip (we stayed in a hotel with clean sheets and everything!), we arrived to find accommodations so wonderful, I’ve been stressing about how to describe them. Instead of going into great detail of which you would become bored and frustrated, I’ve decided to include these pictures to show you the lodge along with my teammates’ initial reactions when we first arrived.

Jacquie and Chris Money in the hall.

Cain and Mac in enjoying their new room.

Huge living room.

Cozy fireplace!

Here’s a quick overview of the perks of my temporary lodge home: one roommate, hardwood floors, good water pressure, endless hot water, fireplace inside, fire pit outside, comfortable mattress, closet space, easy access to Chesapeake Bay, cell phone reception, a living room with comfy furniture, a porch and deck both complete with rocking chairs, hiking trails, beautiful scenery, and probably other things that I haven’t even discovered yet.

Me, Ruth, and Jacquie snuggling on our new couch.

Just me and the trees.

Yesterday was our first day of work, along with a tour and short orientation. We learned quite a lot of history from the park manager who showed us around, and we even got to go inside a Yurt, which was a new one on me. More importantly though, I got to use a chainsaw all afternoon, chopping down a slew of baby pines. Don’t cry, Lorax, I just had to mow down enough to maintain the driving/walking trail. Apparently, these trees spring up like weeds, choking all other plants and wildlife. So dense is this baby pine forest, John and Taylor decided it would be fun to jump headfirst into it and let the trees catch them like a crowd at a rock concert. Their pain was my gain, as it was one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought that if Scotty had been there, he definitely would have participated in this activity.

My whole team in a Yurt.

Yesterday being Friday, we made a fire and cooked hotdogs and marshmallows, all the time shivering in our AmeriCorps Carhartt parkas. Living by the bay creates a constant breeze, and it is January, after all.

More to come next week. I’ll have internet access on the weekends when I come to town for coffee, so I’ll keep you updated.

Much love,

 k

The purple cowboy hat I crochet.