After that, I went out on tour to a place called Bitter Springs. There we worked on repairing a flooded riparian area by planting Mesquite Trees and willow poles (similar to what we were doing). We also got to see some cool wildlife: a scorpion and two frogs getting it on. ;)
Can you find the odd place a horse seemed to have died?
Following that, my crew got sent back out to Lake Mead to do some interpretive sign work. We had to install some new sign-age for the existing trails around boulder city campground. It was a very awkward tour because the man who was supposed to be our project partner, had passed away the night before we arrived. It was kind of a mish-mash tour of things to do, but we managed under the unusual and sad circumstances.
The weekend after that tour, my friend, Brian, from Boston came to visit me. It was a great time and it was so good to see him. I haven't seen him since I left in August last year. We had a lot of fun and I gave him a little view of the typical and atypical Vegas.
The week after that we went back to Lake Mead and worked in their nursery. We transplanted some mesquite sprouts and weeded the nursery yard. It was a less than desirable tour, though, I did get to see a pretty big black widow! (pictures to come later) Luckily, I got to leave early because I headed to Madison to see Dave. It was a great weekend with him!
This past week, I was out on an 8-day tour. It's been SO long since I've been on an 8-day and it definitely felt long. We were up at the Ward Charcoal Oven State Park, which is near Ely, NV. This tour was actually a chainsaw tour which felt GREAT to get back onto a saw. I forgot how much fun it is! We were taking out some pine's that were affected with Blister Rust. It's a spore that kills pine trees. Steve Gray, the Ranger that worked with us all week, was awesome! By far, he is one of the best project partner's I've had all year. He was working with us everyday all day AND we were spoiled with the company of, not one, but TWO dogs! There were two dogs out on the trail with us every day. What more could I ask for?! There was Roxy, a collie, black lab mix and Lily, an English Short haired Pointer gone dwarf (she was smaller than usual). I was in heaven. Anytime the weather got to me (pretty much snow, rain or sleet every day), or the sawing got frustrating, one of these dogs would just bound around the corner looking so happy. I'd put down the saw, play for a few minutes, then I'd be good to go. This tour was a perfect example of why we should be allowed crew dogs. :-D
The weather got bad enough that for the last two nights we stayed in a motel in Ely. Of course, I was excited about that. And what better way to end an awesome tour with an awesome project partner than to........shoot off a cannon!! No joke. Steve has a personal cannon and shot it off 3 times for us! It was so awesome and loud and strong. I have a video of it that I'll post later on when I get a chance.
I've moved out of Las Vegas (WOOHOO) and am back up in Reno now. (currently homeless - mom and dad, aren't you proud) :-D I am glad to be out of Vegas though, that city definitely isn't for me. I've heard it's cool and fun to visit but I've lived there for the past 6 months and it's dead to me. :) Now that I am up in Reno again, I'll be back on the 8-days out, 6-days off schedule which I'm very excited about! For the summer, I get a new crew, mostly internationals I hear, and we'll be working in Lamoille Canyon. I'm excited for this next/last chapter in my NCC career. Ask me what I'm doing come August and I'll give you a blank, deer in the headlights stare. :)
Right now, I'm sitting in the Reno airport waiting for my (delayed) flight to Madison. Since I have 6 days off, I figured it'd be fun to see Dave for more than just two days at a time. I'll be there until Sunday evening and then will be heading back out for another 8-day tour in Sloan Canyon. I'll be back with more updates, pictures and videos, I promise!
